


Polar Opposites

by Sunny_side_down_7



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Freeform, F/M, Original Character(s), Water Tribe(s) (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 26,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunny_side_down_7/pseuds/Sunny_side_down_7
Summary: Elodie finds herself on a ship filled with tall, tan, muscular men clad in blue who claim there's a war going on. Which extremely weird because she was just at a party in the United States. All she's worried about is getting back home so she doesn't fail her college classes. But, her worries change when she catches the attention of a certain chief.======================================A Hakoda X OC fanfic because Hakoda doesn't get enough love.======================================+milestones+8-17-2020 - 250 reads8-24-2020 - 300 reads9-15-2020 - 400 reads11-?-2020 - 500 reads11-?- 2020 - 600 reads1 -2- 2020 - 700 reads2-20-2020 - 800 reads
Relationships: Hakoda (Avatar)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	1. Falling into Icy Waters (and a bush...)

Hakoda had not laid in a bed with another woman since his wife left him. It was years back when his children were still young. He still remembered it vividly to this day.

There was an invasion on his village by a Fire Nation ship. It was weird because they had no more water benders in their tribe, other than Katara, but they had kept her secret well. There was no way anyone from the Fire Nation would have known about her abilities. Hakoda and his men fought the invaders, but it was not a completely fair fight since the enemy had bending and they had none. Still, they were keeping their ground and putting up a very difficult fight.

Hakoda had just taken down a Fire Nation soldier when he heard his daughter's high-pitched voice called out to him, "Dad! Mom's in trouble!" Hakoda looked up, fear in his eyes. He tried to appear calm for his daughter, "Go to Gran Gran's house, sweetie. I'll take care of it." He ran to his hut and burst through the doors, "Kya-" He froze when he saw no trace of his wife, but the smell of a Fire Nation soldier and her blue engagement necklace abandoned on the floor. 

Hakoda's heart dropped as he ran outside to see if he could find Kya and the nasty creature that took her. He was met with the devastating sight of the Fire Nation's ships leaving their village and a trail of blood. Without thinking, he ran towards the ships and was about to jump into the frigid waters to swim after them. A pair of arms held him back and Hakoda struggled against them, "Let go Bato! I have to save her!" Bato didn't let go, "You'll freeze and die in that water Hakoda. You can't leave your children with no parents." Hakoda stopped struggling, he knew that Kya was gone, but he didn't want to believe it. His precious Kya couldn't be gone. 

Hakoda broke into tears as Bato's arms went from constricting to consoling. He was there for a couple of minutes before making the tears stop. He had children that he needed to check on. He had to be strong for them and they didn't need to see him cry. He walked back towards his house and entered it, only to see his young children crying, his daughter clinging her mother's necklace close to her. He wordlessly scooped them into his arms and held them tightly. That's all he could do. Hug them. 

His kids eventually fell asleep in his arms and it was his turn to cry again. He did it silently so he wouldn't wake up Katara and Sokka. He didn't let go of his children until morning.

Zokkik snapped Hakoda out of his trance, "Um... Chief. Are you ok? I can find someone else to do it if you do not want to." He blinked a bit before shaking his head, "No... I'll do it." He undressed so that he was only in his bottom layers, which was a thin, sleeveless shirt and pants. It was still very cold outside, so all the crew members wore many layers to keep warm in the frigid weather. He took the outer layers off, so more heat to be exchanged to the female.

Zokkik started to give Hakoda the rundown of what he found about the woman. "She seems to be healthy, well if it weren't for the bruises, cuts, and almost being frozen." Hakoda nodded and lifted up the blankets and furs she was under. He carefully got on the bed, not wanting to jostle the red-haired woman. He shivered and gasped softly and how cold she was. He had no clue how she was still alive. Zokkik continued, "I can't tell what nation she is from. Her skin is pale like someone from the Fire Nation, but her eyes are round and blue, like someone from the Water Tribe. And, I have never seen anyone with markings like she does. It's very perplexing." Hakoda hesitantly wrapped his arms around the woman's slender waist, becoming flustered when she nuzzled her head into his chest, her subconsciously trying to get more heat. Zokkik added, "I looked through the bag that she had as well and everything seemed foreign. I did not know what anything was..."

Zokkik took a deep, hesitating breath, "Hakoda. I don't know if she's from this world." Hakoda stayed quiet because he was thinking the same thing.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie
> 
> *I changed Kya's plot because I scrapped the idea I was going to do with it (and not because people told me they hated it. No, I'm not that self-conscious about my work. Not me)


	2. Heating Things Up

Hakoda had not laid in a bed with another woman since his wife left him. It was years back when his children were still young. He still remembered it vividly to this day. 

There was an invasion on his village by a Fire Nation ship. It was weird because they had no more water benders in their tribe, other than Katara, but they had kept her secret well. There was no way anyone from the Fire Nation would have known about her abilities. Hakoda and his men fought the invaders, but the even weirder thing was, the intruders seemed to not fight to harm the villagers. It was almost like they were trying to distract everyone. 

'Hakoda had just taken down a Fire Nation soldier when he heard his daughter’s high-pitched voice called out to him, “Dad! Mom’s in trouble!” Hakoda looked up, fear in his eyes. He tried to appear calm for his daughter, “Go to Gran Gran’s house, sweetie. I’ll take care of it.” He ran to his hut and burst through the doors, “Kya-“ He froze when he saw his wife in the arms of a man covered in Fire Nation robes. He seemed to be high ranking from what his clothes looked like. What shocked him most of all was that Kya was not struggling in the man’s arms. It was quite the opposite of an aggressive hold. She seemed to be enjoying being in the man’s arms.  
Kya looked up at Hakoda with sad eyes, “Hakoda… I can explain.” He answered with a cracking voice, “Wh-What is happening, Kya?” She teared up and said softly, “I met him when I went to the Earth kingdom. His crew was in charge of finding the hiding water benders. I was so afraid that they would terrorize our people if they thought there was a bender here, so I talked to him and… and we actually had a lot in common, and I’m in love, Hakoda. We haven’t had our spark in a long time Hakoda, but I don’t blame you. We were so young when we got married and had children, this was bound to happen.” Hakoda was slow to anger, and when he did get angry, he hardly ever got loud. This was one of those rare times. His voice got louder, “No! This wasn’t bound to happen, Kya! Yes, we were losing our spark, but we could have gotten it back! What about our children?” He stopped when he looked into Kya’s eyes. There was pain there when he mentioned the kids that wasn’t there when he talked about their marriage.

'Kya let a single tear fall, “I’m sorry Hakoda. I think this is the best. Please, please don’t let our children resent me…” It was as if she was holding something back. As if she was saying ‘This is to protect our children’. He had noticed that she never said that Katara was a bender in front of the man. So, he believed that she was protecting the children, but that she also wanted to be with the man. The Fire Nation man told Kya, “We need to go before my men lose their tempers.” She nodded and handed Hakoda her necklace, “Please give this to Katara. Please remind Sokka that he will be a great warrior one day. Please let them know that I love them.” With teary eyes, Kya and the intruder left the hut. Hakoda shaky legs lost their strength and he fell onto his knees. He felt like his heart had been ripped out of him and stomped on by Kya and her lover. He didn’t move from that spot until his children came in. He had to be strong for them. He would be the best father he could be.  
'He didn’t want anyone to know that Kya left. He didn’t want to taint her name because he still loved her. Even if it wasn’t romantically, he would always love her because she helped bring his beloved children into the world and they did have good times together. However, it wasn’t long before people found out the truth. Thankfully, people never talked about it. He may have never gotten over it if people talked about it.'

Zokkik snapped Hakoda out of his trance, “Um… Chief. Are you ok? I can find someone else to do it if you do not want to.” He blinked a bit before shaking his head, “No… I’ll do it.” He undressed so that he was only in his bottom layers, which was a thin, sleeveless shirt and pants. It was still very cold outside, so all the crew members wore many layers to keep warm in the frigid weather. He took the outer layers off, so more heat to be exchanged to the female. 

Zokkik started to give Hakoda the rundown of what he found about the woman. “She seems to be healthy, well if it weren’t for the bruises, cuts, and almost being frozen.” Hakoda nodded and lifted up the blankets and furs she was under. He carefully got on the bed, not wanting to jostle the red-haired woman. He shivered and gasped softly and how cold she was. He had no clue how she was still alive. Zokkik continued, “I can’t tell what nation she is from. Her skin is pale like someone from the Fire Nation, but her eyes are round and blue, like someone from the Water Tribe. And, I have never seen anyone with markings like she does. It’s very perplexing.” Hakoda hesitantly wrapped his arms around the woman’s slender waist, becoming flustered when she nuzzled her head into his chest, her subconsciously trying to get more heat. Zokkik added, “I looked through the bag that she had as well and everything seemed foreign. I did not know what anything was…”

Zokkik took a deep, hesitating breath, “Hakoda. I don’t know if she’s from this world.” Hakoda stayed quiet because he was thinking the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie
> 
> Please don’t hate me for making Kya leave Hakoda haha. I just feel like Hakoda wouldn’t date again if Kya died.
> 
> Hi! Thanks for reading! Please kindly inform me if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes because I'm bad at editing. If you would want anything specific in the story, don't hesitate to tell me because I have some trouble coming up with ideas after the first couple chapters. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Fever Induced Hide and Seek

The last couple things Elodie remembered was falling off a roof into a prickly bush, almost running over a dog, being submerged into some butt-cold water, and hiding behind some boxes. The last one was very muggy and she couldn’t piece everything together. She didn’t remember why she was hiding behind boxes. It was like some murky dream that she couldn’t quite piece together. So, she decided that it was just a dream and that she was currently snuggled up in her warm bed.  
Hakoda and the rest of the crew knew for a fact that it was not a dream. They had woken up and started their chores at the same time they did every day. Everything had been going completely normal until Zokkik ran out of the healer’s room and onto the deck, “She’s gone!” All of the crew members' eyes turned to the healer. Hakoda, who was on deck to check everything, asked with disbelief laced in his voice, “What do you mean she’s gone? Last time I checked she was lethargic from a fever.” Zokkik sighed, “She must be somewhere on the ship.” Whispers were going through the crew members that the unknown female could be Fire Nation and that she had escaped to tell their whereabouts to the Fire Nation fleets. Hakoda said in his tough, authoritative leader voice, “Everyone calm down. We can start panicking if we don’t find her. Any crew member who is free, start searching for her and make sure that we have all of the smaller boats as well.” 

Everyone who was not doing an important job immediately started searching for the red-haired woman. One of the crew members informed Hakoda that all of the small boats were accounted for, so she didn’t take one of them to escape. So, there two options left: she was still on the ship or she went back into the water and probably died. In all honesty, the second option would make Hakoda’s life so much easier. But he really hoped it wasn’t true. He had never even had a conversation with her since she had been unconscious the whole time, but he had spent a lot of time with. It sounded weird, but he just had this feeling about her. It was as if he knew that she wasn’t a Fire Nation spy. He couldn’t explain it.

After about 30 minutes of searching, one of the younger crewmates exclaimed that they found the girl. His victorious announcement was followed by a groan and a thud. Hakoda, Zokkik, and some of the older crew members ran to where the shout was heard from. They ended up in the room where their cargo was held. The young man was on the ground, covering his private parts while groaning. Even though it was pretty self-explanatory, Zokkik asked, “What happened? And, where is she?” The poor boy on the floor said with pain in his voice, “Sh-She kicked me!” He paused and pointed to stacked boxes, “She went behind there.” Zokkik nodded and told some of the other men to take him to his hammock to recover from his “traumatic experience”. 

Hakoda decided that he should be the one to try to bring the girl back to the healer’s room. Zokkik had told him that she was still in a critical state and needed to be in bed resting. Hakoda kept that in mind as he maneuvered through the boxes. He grunted a bit as he squeezed through them. The female was so petite that she could fit through the cracks easily. Hakoda was a tall, muscular man, so he didn’t fit very well. He soon found the mysterious woman and his eyes softened at the sight of her. Her legs were brought up to her chest, she was shaking, and tears were spilling out of her big blue eyes. She tensed up when she saw Hakoda and pressed herself up against the wall. She spat out in a voice that was filled with fear, “St-Stay away! I’ll kick you in the balls, too!” Hakoda would have laughed at her words if it wasn’t for the situation.

He said in his calm, almost fatherly voice, “I’m not going to hurt you. I need to take you back to the healer. You’re sick and need help.” The woman glared at him and tried to back away even further, sweat forming on her pale skin from her fever. He just sat there patiently, knowing that she wasn’t in her right mind. It took about 20 minutes for her to pass out from exhaustion and Hakoda brought her back to Zokkik. The healer immediately starts to work on the lady, trying to get her temperature back to normal. Hakoda stayed for a while, probably too long, but he was worried about her. However, he was needed somewhere else, so he reluctantly left the girl.

============================================================

Elodie had been completely unconscious for two weeks and then in a weird fever state for another two weeks. It had been a whole month of her being on the ship and she remembered almost none of it. Heck, when she finally woke up and was in a stable mindset, she was deeply confused about where she was. She had first noticed that the blankets that she was under, was not her blanket. And the mattress that she was on was definitely not hers. She had spent a pretty penny on a mattress that felt like a cloud, and this mattress felt more like cotton balls on top of a slab of wood. She really knew that she was not home when she opened her eyes. 

Her big eyes darted around the room and she sat up slowly, trying to figure out if this was a dream or not. She was guessing from the pounding in her head that this was in fact real. Though she hoped that she was just having some alcohol-induced dream. 

Elodie’s head snapped up when an older man walked into the room. She tensed up and the man smiled, “Ah, I see that you’re finally awake. My name is Zokkik and I am this ship’s healer.” She looked up at him with confused eyes, “Ship? I’m on a ship?” Zokkik nodded, “Yes.” Elodie held her head, how did she get on a ship? The healer gave her a reassuring smile, “I know that you are confused, we are perplexed as well. Why don’t I get you some food and you can eat and gather your thoughts together?” She nodded and said softly while grabbing her stomach, she hadn’t even noticed how hungry she was, “Th-Thay sounds good. Thank you.” Her voice was a bit scratchy and sore. Zokkik left the room and then came back with some soup, “Sorry it’s not very warm.” Elodie was so hungry that she didn’t care. She just ate the soup happily. Halfway through her meal, Zokkuk asked, “By the way, what’s your name?” She answered, “I’m Elodie.” He had never heard such an uncommon name. 

“Well Elodie, our chief is eager to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie, so please tell me if I missed changing it somewhere.
> 
> Hi! Thanks for reading! Please kindly inform me if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes because I'm bad at editing. If you would want anything specific in the story, don't hesitate to tell me because I have some trouble coming up with ideas after the first couple chapters. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Finally Awake

As Elodie ate, Zokkik informed her of how she was found, her previous critical state, and her feverish adventure. Elodie finished her barely-warm bowl of soup and shyly asked for more when she was done. After not really eating for a month, she really was starving. She had probably lost ten pounds, if not more, from just not being able to eat for four weeks. She was going to ask for another bowl, but she knew that she probably shouldn’t stuff herself after not eating for a while, so she didn’t ask. Zokkik was glad she didn’t because he didn’t want to tell her that he’s was only give her half a bowl for the same reason why she didn’t ask for another one. 

Once she was completely done eating, Zokkik allowed her to sit on the edge of the bed, but made her wait there for a couple of minutes. Her headache was so bad that she did not want to move at all and her legs were so shaky that she didn’t know if she could walk anywhere. Zokkik smiled at her, “You’ll regain your energy quickly, Elodie. It’s honestly a miracle that you survived. You must be one tough lady.” Elodie smiled and laughed softly, “Yeah. Something like that.” The healer said, “I’m going to inform the chief that you are awake. Here are some pants that you can wear. It’s the smallest ones we have.” Elodie thanked him softly and started to slip on the pants when he was gone. She was slightly uncomfortable when she realized that she had nothing on but the large shirt.  
Once she had the pants on, she sat back down on the edge of the bed and looked around the healer’s room. There were a bunch of books, random papers, and jars with different substances and objects in them. She started to read the labels when there was a knock at the door. Zokkik’s voice called out from the other side, “Elodie, are you… Can we come in?” She called back while trying not to giggle at the fact that Zokkik didn’t want to ask her if she had pants on, “Yes, you can come in.”

Elodie didn’t know what she was expecting the chief to look like. But she did not think that he was going to be cute. Well, cute in a manly way. To be completely honest, Elodie was into older guys because most guys her age wanted nothing other than sex. Not all of them though. She had met some that weren’t playboys. Back to the chief. He was tan, so very tan, muscular, and tall. She took a good look at the chief before looking at Zokkik. He was also tan, but not as tall and muscular as the chief.

Now, she wouldn’t say that she had any feelings or even a crush on the chief. She wasn’t one to just like somebody off of looks. She actually cared about someone’s personality. Elodie just thought that the tall man was nice to look at. Nothing wrong with that. 

Hakoda looked down on the small woman and smiled a small bit, still not knowing if she should be trusted, “Hello. I’m Hakoda, the chief of this ship.” Elodie could tell that he was wary of her, so she turned up the charm and tried to look as harmless as she could. She smiled at him and bat her eyelashes just enough to not appear like she was laying on the charm, “Hello Chief Hakoda. My name is Elodie. Thank you for letting me stay on your ship, especially while I was… not in my right mind.” Her charm seemed to semi-work because the chief’s facial features relaxed a bit and he replied, “You’re welcome, Elodie. We couldn’t just leave you in the frigid water.” She grinned at him, “I appreciate it.”

It seemed that the two men were about to ask her a question, but she beat them to it. She asked the tan men, “Where are we?” The water tribe men looked at each other, seeming to have a mental conversation about whether or not they should tell the girl. She seemed innocent enough, but for all they knew, she could be a Fire Nation spy. After some thinking, Hakoda answered her vaguely, “We left the Southern Water Tribe.” Elodiewasn’t a geological genius or anything, but she was positive there was no Southern Water Tribe where she lived. 

This new information plus all of the other weird things she had seen in the short time she had been awake confirmed that she was not in the United States anymore. So, when Hakoda asked where she was from, she told them softly, “I uh- I don’t remember.” That was a lie, but they would probably think that she was crazy if she told them, she was from a completely different world. Hakoda looked skeptical, but Zokkik explained to him that it was logical that she would have some memory loss. Elodie heard the healer say something about her having a head injury when she first arrived. She looked down at her arms and hands, surprised to see still-healing cuts and bruises littering the. It must have been from the crash. It really was a miracle that she was alive.

She looked up when she heard the chief’s voice speak, “Well, Elodie, you should probably get some rest to get all your strength back.” She nodded gently and smiled him, “Yeah, I probably should.” He cleared his throat and said a bit awkwardly, “Uh yes… Goodbye.” He left the healers room and she giggled almost inaudibly. Zokkik saw her and smiled, “You’ll have to excuse everyone’s behavior. We don’t normally get visitors and definitely not female ones.” She laid back down on the bed and said cheekily, “Don’t worry about it. I think it's cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie, so please tell me if I missed changing it somewhere.
> 
> Sorry that it's short and very late! I got very unmotivated, but my motivation is back now! Also, would y'all prefer shorter, more frequent chapters or longer, less frequent chapters? For instance, I make shorter chapters, but post two or three a week, or make a long chapter and post them once a week. Please let me know! Thanks for reading^^


	5. Freedom (kind of)

Zokkik wouldn’t let ELodie out of the healer’s room for another week and a half. He wanted to make sure that she was completely healed and have most of her strength back before letting her roam around the deck of the ship. Even though it was annoying and boring for her, she knew it was good for her because she had been stumbling around the healer’s room for that week and a half. Most of her days consisted of sitting on the edge of the bed watching Zokkik work, talking with the healer, or reading the few books and scrolls he allowed her to read. Elodie really enjoyed learning about the different plants, medicines, and Water Tribe culture, but she was going stir crazy. So, when Zokkik told her that she could venture out onto the ship’s deck, with him tagging along, she was very excited and was waiting beside the door for him. She didn’t know if he had to be with her because he was worried about her health, or if the chief wanted to make sure she didn’t do anything suspicious. 

Elodie was very eager to leave the healer’s room for the first time (well the first time she was in her right mind). She was standing by the door, trying to get the older man to hurry up. He was taking his sweet time writing some report, and she knew he was purposely writing slow just to annoy her. They had become quite close during her stay in the healer’s room, so he knew how impatient she could be at times. She finally had enough of his antics when she realized that he had started doodling instead of actually writing the report. She stomped over to him and started to (try to) pull him out od his chair, “Come on, Zokkik! I know you’re not even writing anymore!” The man laughed and got out of his chair, “Ok ok. We’ll go now.” Elodie smiled triumphantly when she got the man to move towards the door. She wanted nothing more than to get some fresh air and sunlight. Zokkik offered her his arm, which she took, and they both walked out onto the deck.

Elodie winced when the bright sun hit her eyes and the strong smell of the sea flooded her nose. It was all a bit too much, but she had whined so much to Zokkik about staying in the room that she couldn’t admit it. When her eyes adjusted to the light, the first thing she saw was the beautiful, sparkling ocean. The second thing she saw was lots of blue eyes on her. She looked around and there were at least 15 men on deck, and there was probably more below. She smiled sheepishly at everyone and felt self-conscious from all of the staring. Her hair was a dirty, hot mess, her clothes were rolled up and tied back with some ponytails she had in her purse, and she was bare-footed. They had no clothes or shoes that were small enough for her, so even when she rolled up the pants, they were still too long, and the shirt hung off of her shoulder and went down to her knees. 

She jumped when there was a booming voice behind her calling out for everyone to get back to work. She turned around and smiled when she saw that it was Hakoda. She said cheekily, “Hey Chief.” He smiled back and said, “Hello Elodie. How are you feeling?” She answered, “I’m feeling pretty good. I’m almost fully healed and ready to work!” Hakoda seemed taken aback by her last statement and Zokkik shook his head, “Elodie, I already told you that I don’t think you should be working yet. Your outer wounds may have healed, but I’m still worried about the internal injuries you have.” Elodie sighed and said, “I’m sure there’s something I can do that won't danger my healing. Right chief?” Hakoda looked in between Zokkik and Elodie, almost not wanting to get into their little quarrel. It almost seemed as if it was a father and daughter fighting, but he answered, “I’m sure we can find you something to do, but it has to be approved by Zokkik.” Elodie and Zokkik both nodded, liking that compromise. The healer spoke, “She doesn’t need to anything where she would have to strain to see since that might make her head injury worse and nothing physically strenuous.” Elodie looked over at him with a ‘really’ look on her face, “Then what can I do, Zokkik?” Hakoda could tell the two were going to start bickering again, so he intervened, “How about you start off with making sure everyone’s hydrated. A heatwave just started and some men can’t take the time to get water during their shift. You can go around asking who needs water and you can get to know everybody that way. Does that sound ok?” It wasn’t exactly what Elodie wanted, but she knew she wasn’t going to get anything better, so both of them nodded. 

Hakoda wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but he held it in. He told Elodie, “You’ll start tomorrow.” She nodded with a smile and Zokkik said, “I’ll give her a tour of the ship.” Hakoda watched them leave, well more like watched Elodie leave, before shaking his head and walking to his cabin. 

======================================

Elodie was shown around only some parts of the ship like the kitchen, bunk room, and where some things were located. She knew that she wasn’t completely trusted yet, so that’s why she wasn’t shown the important stuff like where the weapons were kept. She understood why she wasn’t trusted yet. She randomly showed up in the middle of the freezing ocean and had no relocation of where she was from (as far as they knew). So yeah, she was pretty suspicious. 

After their small tour, Zokkik and Elodie went back to the healer’s room. As much as she hated it, her body was still not used to walking around that much, so she felt pretty tired. Zokkik strongly encouraged/forced her to rest while threatening to take her job away if she didn’t. She was just going to lay down for a bit to please him, but she ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours instead. 

She was awoken by Zokkik gently touching her head. That’s how he always woke her up. It started off by him checking her temperature when she slept since he checked it every couple hours and it evolved into what it is now. Elodie's eyes slowly opened when she felt Zokkik’s rough hand on her head. She yawned and sat up while rubbing her eyes. She giggled softly and said, “I guess I fell asleep…” Zokkik gave her an ‘I-told-you-you-were-tired’ look and Elodie smiled at him. He gestured to the door, “Come on, sleepy. It’s dinner time.” Elodie slid off the bed and stretched while making a small noise, “I get to eat with the crew tonight?” Zokkik nodded and led her out of the healer’s room and onto the deck. 

There were a lot of men dressed in blue on the deck, maybe twice as many as she saw before. Zokkik gently grabbed her arm and said, “You can sit by me.” She nodded and let Zokkik take her to where he was going to sit. Most of the men were sitting on benches or stool, but the younger ones were simply sitting on the floor. There was only one stool left so Zokkik said, “You can sit there Elodie and I’ll steal someone else’s seat. She giggled and said, “That’s ok. I’ll just sit on the floor.” She sat in front and to the side of Zokkik and beside some of the younger men. She smiled at them and they smiled back shyly before looking away. Everyone else had food, so Zokkik went to get theirs. Elodie sat in awkward silence until Zokkik came back with their food. Hakoda was walking beside him and Elodie smiled at him softly. He smiled back and Zokkik handed her the food. She thanked him before Hakoda cleared his throat, “Everyone, I have an announcement.” One of the young men, who seem familiar to Elodie, said playfully, “Why so formal chief? Is it because we have a guest?” Hakoda broke into a small smile, but ignored the man’s words, “Y’all have probably noticed that there’s an extra person on the ship.” He gestured to the red-head, “This is Elodie. She will be staying with us, so show her Southern Water Tribe hospitality. You can go back to eating now.” 

Elodie started eating, sadly, getting used to the salty food they always served. After they ate, Elodie was allowed to stay to hear some of the stories that were being told after dinner before Zokkik making her go lay down. He was worried she was going to strain herself, which thought was ridiculous. But, she listened to him anyways and went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie, so please tell me if I missed changing it somewhere.


	6. Water Duty

Elodie was woken up by the bright morning sun shining through the porthole that was normally covered up. Zokkik had the small window covered the whole time she had been in the infirmary so the light wouldn’t strain her eyes or make her head injury worse. She stretched while letting out a small groan and then sat up. Zokkik smiled and said, “Good morning, sleepyhead.” Elodie stretched again and replied groggily, “Good morning, Zokk-.” A yawn interrupted her sentence and Zokkik chuckled at her.

Once she was a little more awake, Zokkik motioned to a bowl on his desk and said, “I got you some breakfast before it was all gone.” Elodie thanked him softly before sitting down in the extra seat that had been brought into the room and started eating. After a couple of bites from the almost cold soup, Elodie looked up at the porthole, “You finally uncovered it.” Zokkik looked up from his paper and nodded, “Yep. Your head injury has finished healing, so I took the curtain off.” She smiled and said, “The room looks better now.” He nodded in agreement with a hum and then went back to his papers.

Elodie finished her breakfast and set the bowl down on Zokkik’s desk. She watched him work and asked, “What are you doing?” He looked up at her and teased, “Why do you want to know?” She scrunched up her nose and said cheekily, “I’m nosey.” He chuckled and answered, “We’ll be reaching our destination soon, so I’m writing down everything I have and what I need so we can get it from the closest town.” Elodie nodded and asked, “How soon are we going to be there?” He teased yet again, “You’re full of questions today, aren’t you? Maybe you really are a spy.” She rolled her eyes at him and he answered her, “We’re making a stop this afternoon and we are going to spend the night there. We’ll continue our voyage tomorrow and we should reach our destination in about a week.” She smiled widely at him, “Thank you, kind sir.” It was now his time to roll his eyes at her.

Elodie started to help Zokkik take inventory and the two talk about random things as they did so. Once they were finally done, Zokkik said in a nonchalant voice, “Did you forget about your job?” Elodie's eyes widen, “I completely forgot! What time is it?” Zokkik answered her question, “It’s a little bit after mid-morning.” She frowned at herself, “It’s my first day on the job and I’m late.” Zokkik laughed softly and stood from his chair, grabbing Elodie's arm gently, and started to lead her out of the room, “It’s ok, Elodie. I think everyone will understand.” She nodded and let him lead her out of the room and onto the deck. 

Hakoda was correct about the heatwave. It was a lot hotter than it was the day before, and subsequently, most of the men were shirtless. When they saw that Elodie was out and about, they looked around at each other with questioning glances, trying to figure out if they should put their shirts back on or not. Elodie stifled a giggle and smiled at them softly, silently telling them that it was ok. The poor men were sweating and obviously burning up from the intense heat, so she understood why they wanted to be topless. And, she definitely wasn’t complaining about the view. 

Zokkik took her to where the coolest water was, which was the kitchen. He said while motioning to the barrel full of water, “Here’s your work station.” Elodie went over to it and started to fill the thin, clay cups up with water. Zokkik reached out to help her, but she playfully pushed his hand away, “I got this Zokkik. This is supposed to be my job.” He chuckled and pat her head, “Ok. I’ll let you do it then. If you feel strained or over-heated at any moment, come straight back to my room. Ok?” Elodie nodded and waved him off, “I will. Don’t worry about me.” He shook his head softly and went back to his room after telling the female goodbye.  
As Elodie filled up the cups with water, her mind was filled with confusing thoughts. Elodie had always been independent and mature. Throughout her entire life, she never had anyone to lean or rely on. She only had herself. So, Zokkik’s affection and parental personality were making her feel all weird inside. It felt somewhat nice that there was someone caring for her, but at the same time, it was making her feel vulnerable and weak. She shook off her perplexing thoughts when she had filled up all of the cups. 

Elodie put the maximum number of cups on a tray as she could and headed out onto the deck, making sure that none of the water spilled. She started to pass out the cups of water to the crew members while smiling and trying to make small talk with them. Most of them were nice, but reserved. She passed out all the waters she had, so she went back to the kitchen to refill her tray with water cups. 

Elodie went back onto the wooden deck and headed over to a small group of the youngest men in the crew. She asked them cheerfully, “Do y’all need water?” They all nodded and grabbed cups off of the tray, drinking from them. One of the men looked at her, “Your name is Elodie, right?” She nodded and he said, “That’s a really strange name.” One of the other men elbowed him and gave him a look. He looked alarmed and said quickly, “I mean- I like it though!” Elodie laughed softly and reassured him, “I guess it’s kind of weird. What are y’alls names?” The man who said her name was weird answered, “I’m Konoye!” The one that elbowed Konoye said, “I’m Petak.” Elodie grinned at them, “It’s nice to meet y’all.” 

The three actually ended up talking for a good while. Konoye was pretty goofy and easy-going while Petak was quieter, yet still funny. After talking for a good thirty minutes with the boys, Elodie felt a presence behind her. She looked up from her seat on a barrel and smiled when she saw Hakoda looking down at her. She waved at him, “Hello.” He answered in his deep voice, “Hello Elodie. Are you distracting my crew members?”  
She grinned, “I can’t help it chief. I’m naturally distracting.” 

He broke into a smile before looking at Konoye and Petak, and Konoye said, “We should probably go back to work.” Hakoda nodded, “Probably.”  
They waved goodbye to Elodie and she waved back, then they went back to their work stations. Elodie turned around on the barrel, so she was facing Hakoda, “Need water?” He shook his head no, “I’m fine. I’m actually here to ask you something.” She tilted her head slightly and he said, “Some of the men are worried that them being… unclothed will bother you.” She smiled gently, “I’m ok with it. I know it’s hot, and I don’t want them to be burning up from the heat because of me.” He nodded, “I will reassure them that it is ok.” 

Hakoda went to leave, but Elodie stopped him, “Hey, Hakoda.” He stopped walking and looked at her, “Yes?” She asked, “Are there any old clothes that I can have?” He thought before nodding, “I believe so. Let me go ask someone to get them.” She said cheerfully, “Thank you!” He smiled at her for a bit before walking off again.  
Elodie went to the kitchen to put the tray back and clean up her mess. When she was done, she went back onto the deck and was met by someone who she remembered as Malaq. He was holding an armful of blue fabric and he held it out, “This is the extra set of clothes that we have.” Elodie smiled at him and took the clothes, “Thank you, Malaq.” He seemed a bit shocked that she remembered his name. He smiled a little at her, “You’re welcome.” 

Zokkik walked up beside her and said hello to Malaq before looking at Elodie, “You’ve been outside in the heat long enough Elodie. Come back to the room.” She smiled softly, “I’m fine Zokkik. I don’t need to go to the room.” He gave her a look that made her feel like she was a little girl again that was fixing to get in trouble. She clenched her jaw and stomped back to the room. She didn’t know why that made her so mad, but it did. 

She sat on her bed and made the old clothes Malaq brought her into summer-friendly clothes. Zokkik didn’t bother her for a couple of hours, so she could cool off. When he did speak to her, it was to tell her that they were fixing to be at their destination.  
She was ready to be off the ship for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I changed Eleanor's name to Elodie, so please tell me if I missed changing it somewhere.
> 
> I'm getting impatient and want to go straight to the romance. Anyone else feeling like that?


	7. Dry Land

Elodie was told by Zokkik that the place they were stopping at would have somewhere for her to bathe, so she packed a small bag of the extra clothes she had scrounged up and DIYed to her liking. She had only one true bath since being on the ship. That had been when she had first woken up from her coma, and it wasn’t very pleasant. It was a hassle to fill up the tub, the water was not the cleanest, and it was difficult to find privacy. So, to get clean she had just been wiping herself down with a wet rag, which was also unpleasant. The men on the ship were used to it, but she was used to warm showers every day. So, to say she was excited for a real bath, was an understatement. She also wanted to shave her legs because she hated the feeling of hair on her legs. And, right now her leg hair was caveman length (might be a bit of an exaggeration) because she hadn’t been able to shave for two months. Zokkik was afraid to let her handle razors when she was healing since her hand-eye coordination had been off and the ship wasn’t always the steadiest.

Since things were still a little awkward between her and Zokkik, Elodie decided to ask Konoye or Petak if she could borrow their shaving stuff. However, she ran into a small problem. Konoye and Petak had already headed to shore, so she couldn’t ask them. Hakoda saw her looking around and walked behind Elodie, “Looking for something?” She jumped slightly and then turned to face him, a small smile on her face, “You love to sneak up on me, don’t you? And, I was looking for Konoye or Petak. I was going to ask them if I could borrow one of their shaving kits, but they already headed towards the shore.”

Hakoda looked a bit confused, “You are going to shave?” Elodie raised her eyebrows softly, “I am going to shave my legs.” The tall man’s face changed from confusion to realization, “Oh. I heard that some women from the other nations and kingdoms do that. Women in the Water Tribe usually don’t because it’s very cold where we live.” Elodie nodded, “That’s interesting.” He scratched the back of his head and almost looked flustered. He cleared his throat a bit, “Uh you can use my shaving stuff. I’ll bring it to shore.” She smiled at him, “Thanks.” He replied, “You’re welcome. I have to go get some stuff ready, so um… I’ll see you later.” She waved at him before heading back to Zokkik’s room, smiling softly at Hakoda’s odd behavior.

In an hour, the ship had finally reached the shore; however, it felt much longer to Elodie. She was so eager to get off of the boat and onto dry land. She honestly didn’t really mind being on the ship because she liked the water. The main issue she had was having little to nothing to do on the ship. She had been so bored on the vessel and was hoping that there was more she could do on land.

Elodie practically jumped onto the ramp that lead from the ship to the sandy ground, only wobbling a bit when the ramp slightly moved from the force of her landing. She tried to act like nothing happened and hoped that no one saw that, but a soft chuckle and a full-on laugh told her otherwise. She playfully glared at the culprits, “Don’t y’all have anything better to do than watch me like weirdos.” Konoye grinned and gently helped her down and off the ramp, “Well, you’re just so beautiful that we can’t help it.” Elodie rolled her eyes and said cheekily, “You’re getting pretty brave there, buddy boy.” The three laughed and chatted for a bit more before a familiar authoritative voice called out, “Konoye. Petak. Why don’t y’all help restock some of the supplies.” Konoye sighed, “Busted. We’ll talk afterwards.” The two rushed off the help and Hakoda walked up to Elodie. He said while hiding a grin, “You like to distract my men, don’t you?” Elodie shot back, “It’s just too easy. All I have to do is smile and bat my eyelashes and they’re hooked.” Hakoda broke into a tiny smile, “You always surprise me with your answers.” Elodie giggled softly, “I like to see your reactions.”

Hakoda motioned to a small path that was almost hidden by some overgrown bushes, “I’ll show you the way to the sanctuary.” Elodie started walking with him and she asked, “Sanctuary? Why did we have to stop at a sanctuary? Are you getting rid of me?” Hakoda shook his head softly and chuckled, “No. I am not getting rid of you. My friend, who is also my second in command, is here. He was badly injured, so he has been healing here.” Elodie grimaced slightly, feeling bad that she was joking while they were going to get Hakoda’s friend who had been severely injured. Hakoda seemed to notice Elodie’s emotions, so he nudged her and tried to lighten the mood, “Bedsides, I cannot get rid of you just yet. I still do not know if you are a spy.” Elodie looked up at him with slanted, unamused eyes. He laughed and tried not to think about how adorable Elodie looked at the moment. He cleared his throat, “Ok. Maybe you are not a spy, but I do believe you’re hiding something from me- us. Like where you are from. You are not from here, are you?” 

Elodie opened up her mouth slightly, thinking of what to say. She was saved by the sight of the sanctuary. She quickly changed the topic, “Look! There it is! Let’s hurry!” She quickened up her pace and Hakoda called out a bit, “Elodie!” He shook his head softly and jogged slowly to catch up to Elodie. Once he reached her, he said sarcastically, “You are very good at avoiding questions you don’t want to answer.” She replied just as sarcastically, “Thanks. It comes from years of practice.” Hakoda placed his large hand on her shoulder, “You are going to have to tell me where you are from at some point if you do want me—us—to trust you.” Elodie looked at his hand, then at him, “I will tell you. Soon. I just have to finish gathering my thoughts.” He nodded and removed his hand before continuing to walk into the sanctuary.

They were greeted by the women who lived and worked at the haven. Before Elodie was shown the bathing chambers, Hakoda and his friend were reunited. The moment was so sweet that it could have been on one of those Instagram pages that post soldiers coming home. Elodie smiled at Hakoda when his eyes met hers before following one of the workers to a nice, warm bath. 

=================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait! It's been a little hectic because I've moved to college!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stick around for more :) There might be something y'all like in the next chapter ;)


	8. Avoidance

Elodie soaked in the bath for about two and a half hours. Every time she thought about getting out because the water had gotten cold, one of the nice ladies would make the water warm again. She thought it would be rude if she got out after the ladies work so hard to keep her bath warm. Or, that’s how she justified staying in the bath for that long. She decided to get out once her stomach started growling for food. 

Elodie sighed as she reluctantly left her little paradise and wrapped a towel around her as she walked over to the mirror in the room. She felt really homesick as she looked at her reflection. Her hair was grown out, showing her natural blonde hair, and the red was faded to a pale pink color. Her face had some blemishes because she didn’t have her face washes. She didn’t look as toned as she wanted because she couldn’t work out. She wanted nothing more than to climb into her plush bed and cuddle with her roommate’s cat and have hot showers whenever she felt like it. She wanted to go back to her college classes and watch her favorite movies and do stupid things with her friends like dying their hair with cheap dye. She wanted her life to be back to normal. And, for the first time since she had woken up on the ship, she cried. She stood there and cried her eyes out.

The main lady who had been helping her, whose name was Soo, heard the cries and hurried into the room. Soo carefully went over to the sobbing Elodie and placed a hand on her back. Elodie turned around and hugged Soo in return. The older woman didn’t hesitate to hug Elodie back, trying to comfort the obviously distressed girl. Soo gently asked Elodie, “What’s wrong?” Elodie looked up at her, “I-I wanna go home! B-But I can’t be-because my home is not he-here…” Soo decided not to press Elodie further and just held her in silence.

After Elodie’s crying session was over, she slowly pulled away from Soo’s embrace and wiped her teary face. She sniffled, “I’m sorry. I don’t normally cry like this.” Soo smiled at her tenderly and rubbed her back, “It’s alright Elodie. If you are good now, then I’ll let you get dressed.” Elodie nodded and thanked Soo before the older woman walked out of the room. Elodie sniffled one last time before washing off her red and blotchy face with cold water. She did not want anyone to know that she had been crying. After drying off, she slipped on the clothes she had DIYed in her free time. She had cut some pants into shorts that went a little bit over her mid-thigh and tied a knot into one side of a shirt. She had wanted to try to tailor the pants and shirt to her size, but she had never done that before and she didn’t have any backup clothes if she messed up. So, she decided to not do that. After she was clothed, she brushed out her half-blonde, half-faded-red hair, and decided to keep it down since it had been pulled up since she had woken up from her coma.

Elodie waited in the bathroom for a couple more minutes, so the side effects of crying would wear off more. Once she felt like she was presentable, she left the bathing room and headed out to where everyone was. The crew members were sitting at tables laughing, eating, and just having a good time in general. She scanned the room for her friends and smiled as she headed over to where Konoye and Petak were, not noticing the glances that were directed at her. They had never seen anyone wear that short of shorts before and they were a bit shocked by it. She grinned mischievously and playfully kneed Konoye in the back and pushed on Petak’s shoulder, “Hey punks. Leave me some food.” Before they could protest, Elodie squeezed in between them and started to eye the food on the table. Konoye asked with his mouth full, “What’ ‘ook you so long? You were ‘one fore’er!” Elodie grimaced, “Do you really have to talk with your mouth full? It’s seriously gross. And, I probably won’t get another warm bath in who knows how long, so I had to savor the moment.” Konoye swallowed his food before teasing, “It must have been really warm because your face is red.” She growled and ready to punch him in the shoulder when she noticed Soo whispering something to Hakoda, and it made her stomach drop. She hoped they weren’t talking about her, but it was pretty obvious they were when Hakoda faced her and looked her right in the eyes. She sighed softly and let her hand fall. Petak asked her softly, “Everything ok?” Elodie looked up at him with a smile and nodded, “Yeah! I’m just really hungry. Let’s eat!” Petak wasn’t really convinced, but he started eating anyways. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After they filled their bellies with yummy food, Elodie tried to avoid Hakoda like he was a plague. She stayed in between Konoye and Petak at all times and would quickly find something for them to do when Hakoda even looked in their direction. After a long while of dragging the two men around, they were eventually called to do something. Elodie smiled innocently at them, “I’ll go with y’all!” A familiar, deep voice from behind her made her jump, “Actually, I would like to talk to you, Elodie.” She grimaced and slowly turned around, “Hey chief! I was actually about to go help-,” she saw that he wasn’t really up for her shenanigans and she sighed in defeat, “Ok.” As Elodie and Hakoda walked off, Konoye and Petak gave each other a “what is happening” look before going to what they needed to do.

Hakoda and Elodie walked in awkward silence (well, it was only awkward for Elodie because she knew she was fixing to have to explain herself. Hakoda seemed to enjoy the walk) for a while. She couldn’t take the silence anymore, so she stopped in her tracks and blurted out, “Are you going to ask me about what Soo told you, or not?” He stopped and turned to face her, “She actually didn’t tell me anything about you. But since you’ve brought it up, please enlighten me.” Elodie squinted her eyes at him, “You- You freaking tricked me! That’s really low, you know.” He sighed, “You were acting suspicious all night and I knew you were not going to tell me if I asked you what was wrong.” Elodie huffed and started to walk away, angry that he would entrap her like that when she obviously didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her.

Hakoda quickly caught up with her and grabbed her arm hard enough that she couldn’t get away, but soft enough that it wouldn’t hurt. She glared at him, “Hakoda, I really-“ He cut her off, his voice rising, “Why can’t you just be honest to us- to me! I put my trust in you, and yet you won’t trust me! Hell, you won’t even trust Zokkik even though he cares for you and would do anything for you!” He let out a heavy breath as he quit talking and he stared Elodie right in the eyes. She was in shock for a couple of moments because she had never heard Hakoda raise his voice. After the shock wore off, she fired back, “Fine! I’m scared! That’s why I can’t be honest or trust y’all!” Hakoda’s face and grip on her arm immediately softened when he saw the tears welling in Elodie’s eyes. She continued, “I’m scared because I’m not from here! I’m scared because I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go home again! And, I’m terrified because I don’t know if I want to go back because I like the people here. I like Konoye and Petak and Zokkik and- and you! I’m just so confused right now!” Hakoda fully let go of her arm and felt pain in his heart as he watched Elodie cry while trying to hold in the tears. 

Hakoda hesitated before saying softly, “I’m so sorry Elodie… I shouldn’t have pressed you like that.” She sniffled and looked up at him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, “I-It’s ok. Everything you said was true. I’ve put everyone in a hard position and I’ve been a horrible person to the people who care about me.” He shook his head, “No one thinks that, Elodie.” She sniffled again, “But that’s how it is. I have taken advantage of-“ All of a sudden she felt slightly rough lips against hers, but they were gone in a second. By the time she got her thoughts together, which only took .2 seconds, Hakoda was three feet away from her, his eyes wide. She gently touched her lips, “Did you just…” Hakoda blubbered nervously, “I am so sorry! I don’t know what came over me! Please forgive me, Elodie.” She had never seen Hakoda so nervous before. He looked so innocent and boyish as he blabbered out apologies. She smirked softly, “You call that a kiss?” He stopped saying his apologies when he heard her and questioned, “What?” 

He was then the one taken by surprise when Elodie closed the gap in between them, pulled him down to her height by his shirt, and kissed the crap out of him.

=========================================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and I oop-  
> I hope the ending makes up for my inactivity 😉  
> I changed to putting two spaces in between sentences, so please tell me if you like one or two spaces better. Thanks for reading!!!!


	9. Making Up (and out ;))

Elodie was laying in her bed at the Sanctuary, just staring at the ceiling as the morning light crept through the windows. She only had one thought running through her mind: she had a full-on make-out session with Hakoda last night. She couldn’t believe that 1) she actually did that and 2) she was still thinking about it. Sure, she had always thought Hakoda was very attractive, but she had never wanted to make a move or date him. But, ever since last night, she could only think of him and nothing else. It was driving her nuts! She wasn’t the type of girl to just sit around and think about a boy, especially one she didn’t have a crush on, but sure enough, that’s what she was doing. 

She rolled out of bed with a groan and walked over to the small basin in the room to wash her face. After a good 30 minutes of kissing the night before, Elodie and Hakoda had both come to an agreement that it was a one-time thing and they would never speak of it again. That it only happened because they had both been so heated and not because they were attracted to each other. That’s why it was so frustrating to her that she couldn’t get the chief out of her head. She looked at herself in the mirror and said sternly, “You are not catching feelings. You don’t like him in a romantic way. You are only thinking about him because he was a good kisser… a really, really good- No! You are not catching feelings for him.” She stared at herself for a couple more seconds, “I am pathetic, aren’t I?” 

Elodie’s attention snapped to the door when there was a knock and she cleared her throat, “You can come in.” She wanted to knock herself out when she hoped it was Hakoda at the door. Soo walked in, “I just wanted to check up on you. I was worried about you last night.” Fear ran through Elodie, her thinking that she and Hakoda had been caught. But then she remembered she had a small meltdown last night in front of Soo. She smiled, “I’m doing much better. I don’t know why I started crying. I think I might be going insane.” Soo joked, “Well honey, you’ve been stuck on a ship with only men. Any woman would have gone insane.” Elodie laughed, “I must admit it was nice being around some women again. Men can be so… gross.” It was Soo’s turn to laugh, “That would be correct.” Elodie hugged the older lady, “Thank you so much for all the help Soo. I really appreciate it.” Soo hugged Elodie back and smiled, “It has been my pleasure, Elodie. Would you mind if I do your hair?” Elodie shook her head, “I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Elodie sat at the vanity and Soo started to brush out Elodie’s long hair. Elodie’s eyes started closing from the comforting feeling. After a bit, Soo said with a sad ting in her voice, “You remind me a lot of my daughter.” Elodie hummed not noticing the underlying sadness in Soo’s voice, “Really? How old is she?” Soo said softly, “She passed away when she was five.” Elodie felt very dumb, “Oh Soo… I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.” Soo smiled at her, “It’s alright dear. I’m the one who brought it up.” Elodie asked hesitantly, “If you don’t mind me asking, how did she pass?” Soo started styling Elodie’s hair, “It was a long time ago. Our village was attacked by the fire nation and she got caught in a burning building. She inhaled too much smoke before we could get to her. Losing her was the worst thing that had ever happened to me… But her death is what lead me to work here. I wanted to help save people that were hurt and dying.” Elodie sat and listened, deeply moved by Soo’s story. 

Soo smiled gently, “There. You’re hair’s finished.” Elodie looked at her reflection and studied the intricate braids Soo made. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Soo placed her hands on Elodie’s shoulder and looked at her in the mirror for a little bit before smiling, “Let’s go get some breakfast.” Elodie nodded and followed Soo out to the dining hall. 

The dining hall was not as crowded as the night before due to it a bit later in the morning and most of the men had already eaten and were getting stuff ready to leave. Before they split ways, Soo advised Elodie, “I think you should talk to Zokkik soon.” Elodie tilted her head, “How did you know that we were having… issues?” Soo smiled and gently pushed her onto the bench, “We’re old friends and were catching up last night. Something about you two fighting might have slipped out into the conversation.” Elodie sighed, “I know I need to apologize.” She thought for a second before smiling mischievously, “Wait. “Old Friends” and “catching up”. Is there something going on betwe-.” Soo quickly cut her off, “Nonsense. Eat now, child.” Elodie laughed and started to make her plate.

Halfway through finishing eating, a familiar chaotic presence showed up beside her, “Did you hear the news?!” She swallowed her food and looked at Konoye, “What news?” Petak sat on the other side of her and started to explain, “Bato said that two kids from our tribe are helping the Avatar save the world.” The two boys had already filled Elodie in who the Avatar was, so she said before taking another bite, “That’s super cool.” Konoye butted in, “It’s not just any kids! It’s Hakoda’s son and daughter!” Elodie choked on her food at the news. She had made out with a dad! She finally controlled the choking and took a big sip of her drink. Konoye laughed, “Sheesh Elodie. You ok?” Elodie nodded with a sniffle, “I-I’m fine. It just went down the wrong hole.”

Konoye and Petak went back to talking, but all Elodie could think about was that Hakoda was a father. She honestly didn’t know why she was that shocked. He was definitely was old enough to have children and even showed some dad traits. It probably wouldn’t have hot her so hard if it weren’t for the fact that she full-on MADE OUT with him. She only came out of her thoughts when Konoye nudged her, “Hey. You gonna finish that?” She rolled her eyes playfully before standing up, “Y’all can split it. I got to go talk to Zokkik.” They finished her food as she looked for Zokkik.

Elodie found the healer doing inventory with the new things he got from the sanctuary. She took a deep breath before walking over to him, “Need help?” Zokkik looked up and smiled, “That would be nice. You know what to do?” Elodie nodded and started helping him. Once they were finished, Elodie faced Zokkik and blurted out, “I’m sorry.” He looked up and asked, “What for?” She sighed, “You know what for. All you have ever done is taken care of me and cared for me. And how do I repay you? I get mad at you. I feel really bad about it…” Zokkik smiled at her, “Elodie, it’s fine. I just figured that you needed to have some space.” Elodie collided into him and gave him a big hug, “Thanks for dealing with me.” Zokkik hugged her back, resting one hand on the back of her head, “I’ll put up with you any time.” She looked up at him with a smile. They hugged for a while longer before Zokkik chuckled, “We’ll be left if we don’t go to the boat soon.” Elodie sheepishly let go of Zokkik, “Oh yeah… I want to say bye to Soo before we go.” Zokkik nodded, “You should go do that now.” 

Elodie nodded and rushed off to find Soo, feeling strangely happy at the moment. 

==============================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kinda sad :'(


	10. Shorts

After saying her goodbyes to Soo, which brought tears to her eye, she loaded herself onto the ship. Elodie honestly didn’t know why she had been feeling the urge to cry for the past couple of days. It was very unlike her to be so emotional. Well, she only got this emotional one time a month- oh crap-a-doodle. It suddenly hit her why she was moody. She was definitely PMSing and was probably about to start her time of the month. Her stomach dropped at the thought because she had nothing that she needed for the dreaded event. She was about to run back to the sanctuary to see if anyone there had the products she needed, but the ship had already started to leave. 

Petak, who was walking beside her, saw her face and asked, “Did you leave something?” She nodded, “Yeah. I mean, kind of. Do you think its too late to turn back?” Petak nodded with a guilty look on his face, “Yeah. Unless it’s really important. I’m sorry.” Elodie gave him a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault for not thinking about it.” She pat his arm before saying, “I’m gonna see if Zokkik needs help. I’ll see ya later.” He waved goodbye before Elodie headed toward Zokkik’s room to help him put everything away.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took Elodie and Zokkik until the middle of the afternoon to correctly label, count, and put all the items he acquired from the Sanctuary away. They took small breaks ever so often and ate lunch in his room. There was a knock on the door about an hour after they had finished putting everything up. Elodie was chilling on her bed, reading a book that she had already read several times. After Zokkik told the visitors to come in, Elodie joked, “I think I’m going to be an expert on medicinal plants by the time I’m off this ship.” Zokkik shook his head at her as the visitors, who just so happened to be Hakoda and Bato walked in.

Elodie sat up on the bed as Zokkik greeted the two, “Chief. Bato.” They greeted him back and Bato explained, “I’m here for my treatment.” The tallest man in the room side-eyed Elodie and she cleared her throat, “I’ll leave y’all to it. I think I need to walk around some.” She stood up and Hakoda said, “I actually have something for you in my office. It’s from Soo.” Elodie nodded and successfully, but barely, stop a blush from climbing up onto her face, “Ok.” As the Elodie and Hakoda left the room, Elodie mentally scolded herself, ‘Why are you blushing, you dork? Y’all agreed nothing is going to happen again.’ 

They soon reach Hakoda’s office and Hakoda let Elodie in the room first. She quietly thanked him as she entered and stood in front of her desk with her hands clasped in front of her. He walked in as well, not shutting the door. The air around them was so awkward as he looked around for Soo’s package for her. She tried to break the silence, “So, um, I didn’t know that you had kids.” Hakoda looked up at her for a second before searching again, “Yes. Sokka is my eldest and he’s 16. And, Katara’s 14.” She nodded calmly, but inside she was freaking out. She made out with a man whose children were closer to her age than she was to his! 

In this midst of her slight mental break-down, Hakoda finally found the package, “Here it is. It must have been moved on accident.” Elodie took it from him, “Thanks.” She was about to jet out of that awkward situation before Hakoda cleared his throat, “There’s actually one more thing, Elodie. It’s about your, um… your pants.” She looked down at her shorts, “What is it? Is there a hole in these? I thought I got a good pair.” He scratched the back of his neck, “No. There’s not a hole. It’s just that they are very… short.” Elodie froze and she looked up at Hakoda with an unhappy expression on her face, “What?” Hakoda gulped slightly, “Well, they are pretty short and some of the men-“ Elodie cut him off, “They are not that short! They hit the middle of my thigh.” Hakoda sighed, “Look. It just that those are very short for where we are from and-“ She cut him off again, “So what? People can get over it. I’m not going to wear longer pants because some of the men are offended by it or can’t control themselves!” 

Hakoda started to get mad, “Dammit Elodie! Don’t you see how the younger men look at you! I- you shouldn’t-“ He tried to stop himself before he said something stupid, but it was too late. Elodie narrowed her eyes at him, “I don’t believe it. It’s not the men on the ship, it’s you! You don’t want them to be attracted to me!” She was fuming, “Just because we had that thing last night doesn’t mean that you have any power over me or anything I do! Hell, even if we were together you still wouldn’t!” Hakoda’s face fell a bit and he plopped onto his chair, “You are right. I’m sorry Elodie. I don’t know what came over me.” Elodie’s anger left her, “It’s fine. But don’t you ever try to do that to me again.” He nodded and Elodie couldn’t help but giggle.

Hakoda looked at her with a questioning look on his face, “Why are you laughing?” She grinned, “You look like a little boy pouting like your mother just got on to you.” He made a face, “I do not.” She teased, “Yes you do!” This went on a couple more times before Hakoda got up and made his way over to her, “I do not.” She bit her lip before throwing all of her logic out of the window, “Then show me.” Hakoda grinned before walking closer and closer to Elodie, making her walk backwards towards the open door. He reached past her to shut it and her back soon met with the door. He finally spoke, “I’d thought you’d never ask.” 

In seconds, his lips were against hers and a repeat of the night before started. 

Hakoda was a muscular, tough, and strong man, so you would think that would carry over into the romantic side of him. However, he was actually very gentle and it took him a while to get wild. Elodie on the other hand was a bit rougher with showing affection. For their past two rendezvous, Elodie was the one that tried to speed everything up. However, Hakoda just took his time and enjoyed the moment. It annoyed Elodie, so that’s probably why he went extra slow and gentle. He thought she was so cute when she was irritated. 

Their little session went on for only five minutes because a knock at the door caused them to separate and stand on the opposite sides of the room. A voice projected from the other side of the door, “We need you on the deck, chief.” Hakoda cleared his throat, “Ok. I will be there soon.” 

Once they heard footsteps walking away, Elodie and Hakoda looked at each other and said at the same time, “This was the last time.” 

================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she do be kinda emotional tho 
> 
> I'm spoiling you aren't I? Two updates in two days and more kissing! It's totally not because I'm writing this instead of doing school work. I would never do that...
> 
> also I added the period thing because for some reason females never seem to get them in stores even though most women have to deal with it. so, yeah
> 
> also, do y'all have any ship names for them?


	11. Man (Almost) Overboard

That was definitely not the last time. For three and a half weeks, Hakoda and Elodie would go into his office when he had free time, and make out. She felt like she was in Junior High again. Like she was in class trying to hold her “boyfriend’s” hand without the teacher noticing the PDA, and she didn’t know how to feel about it. At first, sneaking around was fine, she would even say it was fun. But, the longer it went on, the more she disliked it. 

The main reason Elodie didn’t like sneaking around anymore was her and Hakoda found out that they actually liked each other. Like, liked liked each other. After their make-out sessions, they would talk as they tried to look normal and less disheveled before leaving his office. Their feelings grew for each other the more they talked. Subsequently, their little sessions had less making out and more heart-to-hearts and cuddling (she had to admit that cuddling with Hakoda was the best feeling in the world). So, it didn’t feel too great that as soon as his office door opened, they had to act indifferently to each other. Hakoda would act all chiefly and tough and Elodie would go back to Zokkik’s room and pretend that she had been hanging out with Konoye or Petak. 

Elodie was going to confront Hakoda about her feelings around their secret romance, but it wasn’t the greatest timing since they were arriving to their actual destination. Consequently, Hakoda, as well as everyone but her, were quite busy. She was told politely by Zokkik to just stay out of the way. The crew members knew how to effectively and quickly get everything ready to land, and Elodie did not. So, with a huff and mumbling something not so nice, Elodie stayed out of everyone’s way. She stayed cocooned in her bed almost the whole day, wanting to die from boredom.

Zokkik’s room was completely empty, except for some bandage in case anyone got hurt while loading and moving things and Elodie napping on her bed. She was awoken by a gentle hand touching her head. She opened her eyes slightly and saw Zokkik. She yawned as he said, “Come on, Elodie. We’re ready to go.” She nodded and stood up before stretching. She grabbed the bag she had packed with few items she owned and Zokkik grabbed her bedding. She trudged out of the room while Zokkik was trying not to laugh at her sleepy form. Her hair was an absolute mess and she had the smallest, yet cutest, pout on her face which worsened when the outside light hit her eyes. 

Zokkik led her to the smaller boat they would be taking to shore. It was already in the water, so they would have to climb down a ladder to get to it. As they got closer to it, Konoye’s voice called out, “Took you long enough! Hope we didn’t interrupt your beauty sleep!” Elodie looked over the ship’s edge to see Konoye, Petak, Bato, and Hakoda in the boat she was going to get on. She chunked her bag down, so it hit Konoye right on the chest. He ‘oofed’ as Elodie started to climb down the ladder to get on the boat, and Zokkik followed. Once everyone was situated and the vessel started moving, Konoye joked, “It doesn’t seem like your beauty sleep worked. Elodie glared at him, “I will jump off this boat, purposely sink, and make you jump in after me to save me.” Her statement caught the attention of the others and made them laugh, not believing her. Elodie shrugged, “Well, everyone, make Konoye jump in after me.” She stood up and acted like she was going to jump into the dark blue water. Konoye gasped and quickly snatched her, pulling Elodie into his lap as everyone watched in shock. It was Elodie’s turn to bust out laughing, “I wasn’t actually going to do it.” Zokkik sighed and put his face in his hands and Konoye started chewing her out as everyone else started to laugh. Well, only one person wasn’t really laughing and that was Hakoda. He was not happy that Elodie was still in Konoye’s lap. 

After everyone was calm, Elodie went to slide off Konoye’s lap, but he held onto her, “I don’t trust you.” She grinned at him, “I promise I won’t jump off the boat. I was just joking.” Konoye let her get off his lap but kept a very firm hold on the back of her shirt. Elodie and Petak were still giggling over her little stunt, and Zokkik sighed, “Just don’t ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack.” She said cheekily while batting her eyelashes, “I’m sorry.” He just rolled his eyes in response.

They soon reached the shore and Konoye finally let go of her shirt. Everyone started to get off the smaller boat, including Elodie. Before she could step off of it, a large hand was held out in front of her. She looked at Hakoda with a slightly shocked face before taking it and letting him help her off the boat, even though she really didn’t need help. Her shock grew when Hakoda let his hand linger on her’s a little too long to be considered normal. The moment felt nice, but it was over as soon as it started. Elodie quietly thanked him before putting her bag on her shoulder.

Elodie smiled softly as she looked out at the ocean. The sun was just beginning to set and the water was sparkling. She said with just a tinge of sadness in her voice, “I haven’t been on a beach in so long. I used to go every summer, but I stopped going when my parents separated.” She stopped looking at the water and noticed that everyone was looking at her. She grinned sheepishly, “Didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Konoye pointed out, “That’s the first time you have ever talked about your family.” She cleared her throat, “Yeah. I like to keep it that way.” They all looked at her questioningly. In the Southern Water Tribe, family was everything to them, so they were shocked by her statement. She quickly changed the subject, “Oh look, I see the tents.” She started heading towards the blue tents, and the rest followed her.

Once they reached their new base, Elodie looked around with a slightly confused look on her face. There were definitely more men milling around than normal and there was another boat that wasn’t there’s at the shore. She whispered to who she thought was Konoye, “Are there different people here or am I just tripping?” The person responded, “Some of the other Southern Water Tribe fleets are meeting us here.” She refrained from making a weird noise when she realized that she had asked Bato instead of Konoye. She said sheepishly, “Makes sense…” She really needed to start paying more attention to her surroundings. 

Petak and Konoye went to go set up their tent, they were sharing with two other young men, and Bato went to help set up his. He was staying with another man from their crew. Elodie looked up at Zokkik, “Do we have to set up our tent?” He said softly, “About that… I’ll be staying with the other healer’s and we, unfortunately, need all of the space we have for the injured from the other ships, so you won’t be staying with me.” Elodie sighed, “Well that sucks.” She grinned cheekily, “Does that mean I’ll be getting my own tent?” Hakoda’s voice came from behind her, “No. You’ll be staying in my tent. It’s bigger than the others, so we can block off a space for you.” 

Elodie turned to face Hakoda, who seemed to be hiding a grin. She rolled her eyes at him softly, “Sounds good.”


	12. Digging a Hole

Elodie was shown to where she would be staying for at least a couple of months. Hakoda’s tent was a bit bigger than the other crew members’ tents. There were some bedding and furs that needed to be fixed, a desk and chair, and a chest. She joked, “The interior design is amazing.” Hakoda chuckled as he walked in behind her and closed the tent’s flap behind him. He asked, “Do you need help setting up the dividers?” Elodie shook her head, “I got it.” 

Elodie grabbed the chair that was in the tent and the supplies to hang up the privacy curtains. Hakoda quickly fixed where he would be sleeping, which was basically just a pile of furs and blankets, before watch Elodie struggle. He leaned against his desk, “I can do that easily, you know.” Elodie glanced at him, “Congrats, but not everyone is a giant.” He shook his head at her softly, “I meant that I could do that for you.” She replied, “It's ok. I got it.” 

Hakoda pushed off the desk and walked over to Elodie. He placed his tan hands on her waist and looked up at her, “Why won’t you let me help you?” She paused her fidgeting with the curtains and shrugged, “I don’t know.” She went back to messing with it and Hakoda gently grabbed her hands, “Tell me.” Elodie sighed and faced him, “It’s just that I feel so useless all the time because I’m still not allowed to do anything. And, it makes me feel guilty because everyone works so hard, and I don’t. I just don’t want to be a burden.” Hakoda gently pulled her down to give her a soft peck, “I promise you’re not a burden. No one thinks that you are.” She wrapped her arms around Hakoda’s neck, “I still feel bad about it though.” Hakoda rubbed small circles on her hips with his thumbs, “Don’t.”

Elodie smiled at him and leaned down to kiss him. Hakoda happily returned the kiss and his arms circled Elodie’s waist. He picked her up from the chair, which made her wrap her legs around him, and her hands found their way into Hakoda’s hair. Hakoda slowly made his way over to his bed and laid both of them on it. For a second, Elodie felt like she was on air and her worries and stress left her. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. It seemed like someone was going to enter the tent, so Hakoda pushed himself off of Elodie and was waiting to bolt if the tent’s flap moved one millimeter. Once the coast was clear, Hakoda went to resume what they were doing, but the look on Elodie’s face stopped him. She was obviously not happy. He asked with his head slightly tilted, “What?” Elodie rolled her eyes and tried to wiggle out from underneath him, “I’m tired of sneaking around, Hakoda. Like what just happened ruined, no, killed the mood.” 

Hakoda sighed and sat back so Elodie could sit up, “I know it’s annoying, but it’s for the best.” Elodie pulled her knees up to her chest, “You always say that, but you never give me reasons why. Tell me why our relationship has to be a secret.” Hakoda thought for a second before answering, “Some of the people here still don’t trust you because you showed up in the middle of an ocean,” he gave a couple more reasons that Elodie thought were reasonable and acceptable answers, “And, you’re pretty close in age to my children, so-“ Elodie stood up quickly and scoffed, “You really know how to kill the mood, don’t you.”

Hakoda just realized what he said and blurted out, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean maybe my kids will feel weird if their stepmother is closer to their age than mine.” Elodie pursed her lips before saying sarcastically, “You should definitely keep talking. It’s getting you places.” Hakoda wanted to jump into a hole right about now. He tried to say something in his favor, “What I meant to say was-“ Elodie looked at him and said, “Hakoda. You meant what you said, and it’s a valid point. Don’t worry about it, ok. I’m going to get some fresh air.”

Elodie left the tent and Hakoda plopped into the chair in the room. He groaned and placed his head in his hands, “I am an idiot.”

\--------------------------------------------

Elodie had hung around Zokkik and the other crew’s healer for the rest of the day since Petak and Konoye had gone to a nearby village to get some supplies. She was not in the happiest of moods, which made Zokkik question her, “Is everything ok, Elodie? You’ve been ‘untangling’ that bandage for half an hour.” She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly, “Oh… sorry. I’ve just been stuck in my thoughts, I guess.” Zokkik sat beside her, “You want to talk about it?” She wanted to blurt out, “Hell no,” but she didn’t. She just shook her head no, “No thanks. It’s nothing really.” He nodded and said, “Dinner’s ready, so you can go get some.” Elodie nodded and set the bandages down before walking out of the tent. 

Everyone else was already getting food and sitting in a circle like they normally did. She went to go stand in line for food when there was a sudden force on her shoulders. She shrieked as her knees buckled and she stumbled. She already knew who it was, “Freaking heck Konoye! Your fat butt almost broke my legs!” Konoye was almost doubled with laughter, “That scream was cute, Elodie.” She went to go pounce on him, but Zokkik’s voice called out, “No roughhousing by the food.” Konoye gave Elodie a smug look and she glared at him. 

Konoye wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she was tempted to bite it. The only thing that stopped her was Konoye saying, “There’s no need for you to eat here tonight.” Elodie tilted her head, “Huh? Why?” He smiled widely, “The village near here is having a festival, and me, you, and Petak are going!” Before she could even start cheering, three voices called out at the same time, “No.”

Elodie whipped around to see Zokkik, Bato, and Hakoda and she whined, “Why not?” Zokkik placed a hand on her shoulder, “Elodie, it’s obvious that you’re not from here. It’s too dangerous for you to go out into public.” She retorted, “It’ll be fine. Konoye and Petak will be with me!” The three men’s minds didn’t seem to change, so she tried playing the sad card. She said with a cute pout on her lips, “Come on guys. I haven’t been able to do anything fun in like forever and I’ll be super-duper careful.” Hakoda crossed his arms, “We said no.” She gritted her teeth and said pettily while staring at Hakoda, “Fine, dads.” Was it a low-blow? Yes. Did she regret it? Not at this moment. 

Elodie grabbed Konoye and Petak’s arms and dragged them off to their tents. It was a funny sight, a tiny girl pulling two giant men behind her. She wasn’t about to let them ruin her fun.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! It's been a while..... I was swamped last week because I had my first college exams! Ya girl was nervous hehe
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Oh yeah and I know their relationship seems a bit toxic, but I promise it's not. They have lots of fluffy and happy moments behind the scenes, I'm just speeding through it to get to the drama XD


	13. Bro Talk

Hakoda was very visibly bothered by something. Ok, so it wasn’t that visible, but Bato knew Hakoda like the back of his hand. Something was going on with his best friend, and he was going to figure out what it was.

It took a while for Bato to find Hakoda. He found the chief perched on some rocks that faced the ocean, messing with a piece of wood. The closer Bato got, he could see that Hakoda was carving something into the piece of wood with a small knife. Hakoda was surprisingly very good at whittling, him being taught by his father when he was young. He always seemed to do the art when he was stressed about something, so Bato knew his assumption was correct. 

Bato sat beside Hakoda and blatantly asked, “So, what’s wrong with you?” Hakoda was too absorbed in his whittling to notice his friend come up, so when Bato spoke, Hakoda jumped and his knife cut his thumb. He hissed and let out a profanity or two before putting his cut finger in his mouth. He then wiped it on his pants and grumbled, “Nothing’s wrong.” Bato gave him a look, “And you expect me to believe that?”

Hakoda sighed and set down his knife and work in progress beside him, “I’m an idiot, Bato. A real idiot.” Bato, trying to lighten the mood, scoffed and nudged his sulking friend, “Well, I already knew that.” When he saw that Hakoda was still in a sour mood, he asked softly, “Want to talk about it.” Hakoda hesitated before saying, “It’s Elodie…” He trailed off, trying to find his words, but Bato beat him to it, “Y’all have been hooking up?” Hakoda’s eyes snapped up and he panicked slightly, “How did you know?!” Bato laughed softly, “You think I wouldn’t notice? I’m your best friend, Hakoda. But, to ease your nerves, I don’t think anyone else noticed. Y’all hid it pretty well.” 

Hakoda flopped onto his back, “Well, I think I just ruined whatever we had.” Bato looked at him questioningly and Hakoda explained, “She told me she didn’t want to sneak around anymore, and I told her I was against it.” Bato shrugged slightly, “I’m going to have to agree with you on that one.” Hakoda sighed loudly, “And, she understood why I was worried for my first few reasons. It was my last one that she got mad at me for.” Bato asked, “And? What was it?” Hakoda covered his face, feeling very embarrassed, “I compared her to my kids. I said that I didn’t want to make us public because she was closer to my kids' age than mine.” 

Bato sat there for a second before bursting out laughing, the kind of laugh that brings tears to your eyes. He gasped for air as Hakoda’s face reddened, “You really are an idiot! Wait, is that why she made that comment about us being dad-like when we wouldn’t let her go into town?” That realization just made Bato laugh even harder. Hakoda growled and pushed Bato away from him, “Thanks for the sympathy, friend.” Bato wiped away his tears, still chuckling, “Hey, you brought this upon yourself.”

Once Bato had completely stopped laughing, he asked Hakoda, “Do you like her?” Hakoda nodded, “Yes.” Bato asked him seriously, “I mean, do really like her? Like, want to be with her forever and all that gross stuff.” Hakoda rolled his eyes before answering just as seriously, “Yes. I really really like her Bato.” Bato let out a breath, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but then do it.” Hakoda raised an eyebrow and Bato shook his head slightly, “Go apologize to her and tell her you want the same thing as her. Don’t hide your relationship if you don’t want to.” Hakoda looked shocked, “B-But you just said you thought we shouldn’t go public-“

Bato cut him off, “That was before I knew how you really felt about her. When you were talking about her… You had the same look on your face that used to show when you talked about Kya all those years ago. It’s pretty dang obvious that you love her, or are close to loving her.” Hakoda’s face softened as he heard his late wife’s name and before he could even begin to start to feel guilty about liking someone else than Kya, Bato interrupted, “She would have wanted you to be happy and with someone you love, you know. There’s no reason for you to feel bad about liking Elodie.”

Hakoda smiled at him, “You really do know me.” Bato crossed his arms, “Now, go fix things with Elodie before I change my mind.” Hakoda nodded and quickly hopped up, but before he left, he turned to Bato, “Thanks Bato. For always being there for me.” Bato smirked and said playfully, “Stop being sappy and go get your girl.” Hakoda grinned and jogged back to the campsite to find Elodie.

Once he got to the camp, he looked around for the girl, but couldn’t find her. So, he went to Zokkik and asked him, “Do you know where Elodie is? I need to speak to her urgently.” Zokkik looked up from an ointment he was making and shook his head, “I haven’t seen her. Is everything alright?” Hakoda nodded and said, “Yes. I just need to tell her something.” Zokkik stood up, feeling a little worried himself, “I’ll help you look for her.” The two looked for Elodie but never found her. They went to go question Konoye and Petak, but they were told that them and some of the younger men went into town for the festival.

Hakoda went into his tent, feeling very anxious about Elodie’s disappearance. He suddenly realized where she was when he saw all of her bathing stuff out and “nice” clothes missing. And then he was upset. Very upset.

====================================================================

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this was sweet~ and where could Elodie be?????????????????
> 
> oh and hi. long time no see. Sorry for the long wait guys, I've been having some writer's block and college takes up a lot of my time :( I'll try to get back to posting more regularly 
> 
> and, we're super close to 500 reads on both here and Wattpad! I honestly never thought this story would ever get this much attention, so thank y'all so much! Y'all are the best!!!!!


	14. ~Festive~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +I recommend listening to Teir Abhaile Riu by Celtic Woman when they get to the town. I'll put a reminder at that part lol+

Konoye, Petak, and some other of the younger men were in one of the tribe’s small boats, rowing to the nearby Earth Kingdom town, so they could join in on the festivities that were happening there. They were a good way away from the base when Konoye sighed as he leaned against the side of the boat, “I wish Elodie could have come with us. I feel like she would have been the life of the party.” The men on the boat almost jumped off of it with screams when a feminine voice suddenly appeared, “Awe thanks, guys!”

Elodie popped up from under some tarps and such on the boat, a wide, mischievous smile on her face, “Those were very pretty screams, fellas.” The men looked even more shocked when they saw the stole away. Konoye looked at her, holding his hand over his wildly beating heart, “What are you doing here? I thought Chief, Bato, AND Zokkik told you you couldn’t go.” Elodie crawled out from under her hiding spot and tried to fix her hair and clothes, “And you expected me to listen?” He opened his mouth to say something, before closing it then saying, “You’ve got a point.”

Petak asked her, “But how to sneak in here without anyone noticing.” Elodie grinned, “I can’t reveal how I did it, but I can say that it was really easy to sneak out of the camp. A whole lot of a hack easier than sneaking out of a house with strict parents.” All the men looked at her questioningly and she just smiled, “That’s another story to tell. So, are we almost there?” All the men looked at her with wide eyes and one of them spoke up, “We need to get you back to the camp before anyone finds out. You were specifically told not to leave.” Elodie sighed, “Come on guys, loosen up a little. If anyone finds out I’ll just tell them that I snuck out and y’all didn’t find out until we were there. I promise I’ll be careful and won’t stand out.”

She gave all of them puppy eyes as they silently communicated with each other. Petak sighed, “Fine. We won’t take you back.” Elodie smiled at them and squished herself in between Konoye and Petak, “Thanks, guys! Y’all are the best!” Petak shook his head softly, “I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Konoye reached behind Elodie and nudged Petak’s shoulder playfully, “Lighten up, dude. We won’t get caught. And if we do, we’ll just blame Elodie.” Elodie scowled at him jokingly as the male wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Don’t give me that look. You’re the one who said it.” Elodie broke her scowl and the two bickered for a bit longer before Petak cleared his throat, “Um Elodie. I think you forgot something.”

Elodie looked up at Petak with a questioning look, “Huh?” He explained, “Your clothes. They’re not exactly… good?” Elodie looked down out her hand-me-downs that were way too big for her and pretty dingy, then looked back up with a grin, “You think I would let myself go out into public like this?” She rummaged through the tarps that she was hiding in for a couple of seconds before pulling out a blue cloak that she definitely did not “borrow” from Zokkik. “Ta-da! It has a hood, so it will cover my hair, and it will hide my clothes.” The men looked impressed by Elodie’s thorough thinking and she grinned at them. Petak still thought this was a bad idea.

(put the music "Teir Abhaile Riu" by Celtic Woman on now for full effect)

After about 15 more minutes on the boat, the crew finally pulled into the small Earth Kingdom town’s harbor and Elodie pulled up the cloak’s hood to hide her blonde and pink-ish hair. As some of the men tied the boat up, Elodie crawled out of it onto the dock, looking ahead at the town. It was lit up by colorful lanterns, there were people everywhere, and she could already smell all of the different foods the townspeople were selling. An almost overwhelming feeling of excitement washed over her as she was surrounded by the festivities. She hadn’t realized how much being practically cut off from the world for months affected her.

(put the music "Teir Abhaile Riu" by Celtic Woman on now for full effect)

Once the boat was secured, Elodie hook her arms onto Konoye’s and Petak’s and pulled on them, a huge smile on her face, “Come on!” The two chuckled at her and let her pull them around. They knew all too well how stir crazy you could get being cooped up on the sea, so they were happy Elodie could get out for a little bit.

Elodie was even more amazed by the cute town when she was submerged in it. She was practically dragging her two friends around to every stall, sampling all the foods, and playing some of the games that were available (even though she didn’t know what half of them were). Konoye and Petak had never seen Elodie so alive and happy, so they felt good that they were part of the reason that she was happy.

They had been wandering around and enjoying their time there when Konoye waved Elodie over to a stall where a sweet-looking old lady was selling stuff. Elodie made her way over to him and hummed softly. He smiled and pointed to an outfit that was obviously Water Tribe, “Do you think that looks good?” Elodie nodded, “Yeah. It’s a really pretty shade of blue.” He nodded and told the old lady, “I would like the Water Tribe outfit.” She nodded and handed it to him, he then handed it to Elodie, “Here.” She scrunched up her face, “I don’t know who you think I am, mister, but I am not carrying your stuff for you.” He laughed sheepishly, “No you dummy. It's for you. You’ve been wearing those raggedy hand-me-downs for too long now.” Elodie smiled embarrassedly, “Oh… Thank you. But, are you sure that you want to spend your money on me?” He nodded, a slight flush on his cheeks, “Yes… Now go put them on before I change my mind.” Elodie laughed at him softly before asking the old lady if there was somewhere for her to change before going to put her new outfit on.

As she was doing so, the rest of the men walked up to Konoye and waited for Elodie. Moments later, Elodie walked out of where she was changing and thanked the older lady before clearing her throat, “So, what do y’all think of the new fit?” All of their eyes snapped to her and if this were a cartoon, all of their jaws would have dropped to the floor. The outfit was a bit snug on her, but it was extremely comfortable and nothing scandalous. It was a tunic type shirt that had short sleeves, a thick leather belt (that, might I say, showed off her curves nicely), and slits up to just below her hips. The pants were a darker blue and almost like leggings instead of the usual baggy pants. And, to top it off were some typical Water Tribe boots.

Petak cleared his throat, “You look like you’re from the Water Tribe.” Elodie giggled, “I hope that’s a good thing.” She started walking past them and joked, “Y’all might want to close y’alls mouths. Bugs might fly in them.” They snapped out of their trances as Elodie made her comment and they looked embarrassed.

After enjoying the festivities for a bit longer, Konoye and Elodie decided to go on a walk to get some fresh air. Elodie looked at Konoye and smiled at him, “Thanks again.” He raised his eyebrows, “For what?” She laughed softly, “For my clothes. For letting me come along. For being a friend. You and Petak have really made my life easier here. So, thank you.” Konoye smiled at her, “You’re welcome. I am pretty great, so-“ He was cut off by Elodie punching him in the arm, “You punk!” They ended up play fight for a while until Elodie was somehow wrapped up in Konoye’s arms. They were both laughing, but Elodie soon realized what position they were in.

She calmed down her laughs and was about to move when Konoye brushed back her hair gently, and within seconds, his lips were on hers. She was shocked as Konoye pulled back from it. They stared at each other for a couple before they both busted out laughing. Like it was the kind of laugh that made you bend over and tear up. Konoye covered his mouth and said in between laughs, “Oh my gosh that was horrible!” Elodie nodded in agreement and wiped away some tears, “It was like I was kissing a sibling!” Once they had both finally stopped laughing (which took like ten minutes), Elodie held out her hand, “Let’s never speak of this again.” Konoye returned the handshake, “Like never never speak of it.”

The two were still cracking up by the time they reached the festival again and Petak looked at them questioningly, “What happened?” Elodie and Konoye just shook their heads and tried to stop laughing again.

Suddenly music started playing and people were pushed out, so there was enough room for dancing. Elodie’s eyes lit up when she realized what was happening. She grabbed Petak’s hand, “Come dance!” He was going to protest, but she ended up dragging him and several other men along with her.

Konoye was happily watching Elodie outshine everybody dancing when he felt a large hand grip on his shoulder, “Where is she, Konoye?” The male gulped and turned around to come face-to-face with a very unhappy looking Hakoda. He tried to avoid the question, “Oh hi chief! Funny seeing you here.” Hakoda was not having it as Konoye tried to babble out some excuses. However, his attention was caught by the certain someone in a cloak dancing with Petak.

Elodie was having the time of her life, not knowing that doom was upon her. She was slightly sweaty and out of breath as she danced with Petak and several other men that came with them. She was currently dancing with Petak again and he smiled at her, having to yell slightly over the music and noise, “You’re really good!” She grinned at the compliment, “Thanks!”

Elodie was doing some spins that were a part of one of the dances when she spun right into someone. She stumbled backwards slightly and rubbed her nose (which took most of the hit), “Ah I’m sorry! I should have watched where I was going.” The person she hit answered, “Or maybe you should have stayed home like you were told to.” Elodie’s eyes widened as they snapped up to Hakoda’s, “Oh heyyyy. Nice to see you.” He grabbed onto her hand and started to lead her to the boat that he brought to the town. She could see that he was more than just mas, more than angry even, so she didn’t even try to protest.

She didn’t even say anything until they were in the boat, “Hakoda… I’m sorry.” He said roughly, “I don’t want to hear it Elodie. You blatantly went against mine, Zokkik’s, and Bato’s wishes. You could have put yourself in danger! The authorities are corrupt in the Earth Kingdom, and if they would have noticed you- I don’t even want to think about it!” Elodie definitely felt bad now. She scooched closer to him, “I promise I was careful. And I’m sorry that I went against y’all, but… but I just needed some time.” He gritted his teeth slightly, “Time for what exactly?”

Elodie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “To think and get out to have fun? Someone who I thought liked me basically said that he didn’t really want to be with me because I was too close to his children’s’ ages. And, I’ve been confined to the camp or ship with absolutely nothing to do for months! I was going insane.” Hakoda sighed, knowing she had valid points, “Can we just admit that we were both in the wrong?” Elodie let her arms drop and nodded, “Yeah. I guess we were both in the wrong.”

There was an awkward silence for a long time before Hakoda spoke up again, “Elodie, I’m sorry for what I said earlier today. I guess I’m mainly scared to be in a relationship again because… because I was feeling guilty.” Elodie looked up at him as he continued, “My wife- She died many years ago, and I guess I was feeling like I was cheating on her. But I know she would want me to be happy and be with someone that I love.” Elodie looked up at him with panicked eyes and he laughed softly as he stopped rowing the boat so he could hold her hand, “I’m not saying we’re at the “love each other” stage yet, but I feel the potential.” She wasn’t as freaked out now, “Hakoda, I-“

He gently cut her off with a kiss, “I want to be with you Elodie. I don’t care if it’s publicly or privately, I just want to be with you.” Elodie smiled and grinned cheekily, “Well, nothing’s stopping you.” It took them a lot longer to get back to the camp than it normally would.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have an extra-long chapter today because this story has over 1K reads combined on the two platforms it's on!!! This book literally came to me after I had a weird dream, so I never expected it to get more than like 15 reads. So, thank you so so so so so much for the support!!!!
> 
> Next chapter will have a special guest character~ I wonder who it will be???
> 
> Also, should their ship name be Eloda or Hakodie? Do people still use ship names?


	15. Surprises and Visitors

It had been about three months since Elodie and Hakoda had made their relationship official (And no. Nothing happened in the boat that night, you nasties). Everything had been going great for them too. All of the men were accepting of them being together, although they were very shocked when the two first announced it.

Those three months had been pretty uneventful, except for the occasional Fire Nation ship passing by that the men had to go defeat. Elodie never joined in on the fighting because 1) she really had no fight skills and 2) she really didn’t want to fight and possibly take someone else’s life. Konoye and Petak had been teaching her some self-defense tactics, but she was definitely not anywhere ready to face trained soldiers. Though, she hadn’t been lounging around and slacking off. She helped Zokkik and the other healers with the injured crew members and she did lots of chores like fishing and fixing weapons. The crew had tried to just give her the chores of cooking, sewing, and cleaning up, but she had called that misogynistic crap out as soon as they said it. She did help out with those things, but she made it clear that she wasn’t going to do only those things because she was a woman and that she could help with many other things.

Other than that little hiccup, things had been going smoothly. But alas, things never stay easy.

Elodie was out with Konoye, Petak, and two other middle-aged men named Natan and Norlem. They were having a good day and were catching more fish than normal, so the youngsters were goofing off a bit. Konoye had a bucket that was used to get water out of the boat if it got in it, and was playing as if he was going to pour water on Elodie. Elodie growled at him, “If you get me wet Konoye, I’m pushing you in the ocean.”

Konoye decided he had messed with Elodie enough, so he went to toss the water from the bucket back into the ocean. As luck would have it, he slipped and the water came right towards Elodie. Said female let out a shriek and held up her arms to shield her face from the salty water, but none of the liquid fell on her. She opened her eyes when she heard gasps and a shocked noise came from her when she saw a blob of water floating in front of her. She dropped her hands out of surprise and the water came crashing down onto her lap.

Elodie faced the men and asked shakily, “Was that perhaps one of y’all?” Petak was the one to break the silence, “You’re a-“ Konoye butted in as Petak froze, “You’re a waterbender!” Elodie stuttered out, “Wha- That was me?” Natan and Norlem made the executive decision to immediately head back to camp to share the news as Konoye and Petak bombarded Elodie with questions. Norlem put a halt to that, “Let her think, boys. This is probably a lot to take in.” That was an understatement. Elodie knew the bare minimum about waterbenders, so she didn’t even know where to start thinking.

When they made it back to the camp, Elodie was practically carried out of the boat and to the tents from how fast Konoye and Petak were moving her. No one was out doing stuff, which was strange, but they were moving too fast to notice. Konoye called out for Zokkik, Hakoda, and Bato, and the three men ran out of the tent in a panicked state. Hakoda saw Elodie being moved by the men and his heart dropped, “What is it? Is someone hurt?” Zokkik immediately snatched Elodie from Konoye and Petak, thinking that she was injured, and the shocked look on her face didn’t help their suspicions that there was something wrong. Elodie was obviously not talking, so Konoye spoke for her, “She’s a waterbender!” The three men huddled around them, plus the ones that had come out of the main tent because of the commotion, froze and Bato asked, “What?” Petak nodded, “She is! She stopped water mid-air when we were fishing!” Norlem and Natan backed them up.

Everyone was quiet and still for a couple of seconds before Zokkik hugged Elodie tightly, “That’s amazing!” The others soon joined him in congratulating her and she just smiled at them weakly. This was very overwhelming for her. Hakoda noticed how she was feeling, so he calmed the men down and made them give her some space. She smiled at him gratefully and was about to go over to him for a little affection, when an obviously teen boy’s voice called out, “Dad?”

Elodie’s eyebrows furrowed at the voice and Konoye and Petak smiled widely when they heard the voice, “Sokka?” A boy stepped from the tent and the two men rushed to attack him playfully, saying things like, “You’re so big now!” Elodie knew that name sounded familiar and it suddenly hit her. Sokka was Hakoda’s son. Her eyes snapped towards her boyfriend’s and he smiled at her nervously before mouthing, ‘We’ll talk later.’ Which made her know that Sokka definitely did not know about their relationship.

Elodie, still feeling overwhelmed from her newfound ability plus her significant other’s son randomly showing up, happily escaped from the commotion to go get the fish she helped catch for dinner. She was very thankful that Natan and Norlem didn’t bring anything up or talk to her at all. They simply just grabbed the fish silently and walked back to camp.

It wasn’t until Elodie was just relaxing by the fire as some of the men cooked that she saw Hakoda and his son again. She secretly glanced at them as saw that some of the men were taking Sokka somewhere, and then Hakoda headed her way. He sat beside her but kept a good distance from her as if they weren’t together. She looked over at him, “So, I’m guessing he doesn’t know.” Hakoda sighed and shook his head, “He doesn’t. I didn’t even know he was coming. He just randomly showed up today, but I will tell him soon. I promise.” Elodie gave him a reassuring smile, “Don’t sweat it Hakoda. I know it's probably difficult to tell your child that you’re with someone who’s not their parent.” He gently held her hand, “Thank you, Elodie.”

She really wanted to kiss him right now, but the sound of a herd of men headed towards them made them separate. Hakoda gave her a subtle smile before getting up to go to his son. This was going to be interesting.

Elodie didn’t actually talk to Sokka until after dinner. She was cleaning some bandages when she heard someone clear their throat behind her, and an awkward, “Hi.” The voice was not deep enough to be one of the men, so she already knew who it was. She stopped what she was doing and stood up, facing the teen, “Hey.” Sokka seemed embarrassed as he held out his hand for a greeting, “I’m Sokka. I am, um, Hakoda’s son.” Elodie smiled at him and returned the standard Water Tribe greeting, “I’m Elodie.”

There was a brief, awkward silence before Sokka said, “My dad told me about you.” Elodie’s heart stopped. She didn’t think Hakoda would tell Sokka so soon about their relationship. She was about to say something when Sokka continued, “He told me that you weren’t from here. Like, that you’re not from this world.” She let out a sigh of relief and nodded gently, “Yeah. I guess you could say that I’m not from this world.” He said, “I’ve been traveling with the avatar, so I know all about other-worldly stuff.” Elodie smiled at him, “Really?” He nodded, “Yeah. I was even stuck in the spirit world for a day.”

The poor boy was obviously just starting to ramble because he was nervous, so Hakoda (who had been watching them from afar) swooped in to save his son from embarrassment. Hakoda asked them, “Talking about anything interesting?” Sokka smiled at his dad, “I was just going to tell Elodie that if she ever wanted to try to get back to her world that maybe Aang could help her.” Elodie thanked him, “That’s really sweet of you to think about that. Thank you, and I’ll let you know if I decide to do that.”

The rest of the night was basically just all of the crew sitting around a fire, listening to all of Sokka’s stories from his travels. He made them sound amusing, but it was honestly terrifying how much he and the other children that traveled with him went through. It was obvious that the others thought the same, but Sokka would just laugh everything off. However, Elodie had a feeling that was Sokka defensive mechanism.

One-by-one everyone started leaving towards their tents. When she was tired enough, Elodie went to go to her and Hakoda’s shared tent since they recently started to share a bed, but stopped herself. That would definitely give their relationship away. So, she ended up going into Zokkik’s tent and sleeping in one of the empty beds for patients. As she fell asleep, she realized how sucky it was to sleep alone again.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! She's a bender!
> 
> woaw i'm spoiling y'all
> 
> this chapter was kind of a mess and a lot happened, so oops
> 
> and do you think Hakoda will tell Sokka about Elodie, or is he going to chicken out??????


	16. Relationship Issues and Battles

Sokka was at the camp for a couple of days, and yet he still didn’t know about his father’s relationship with Elodie. Even though it was annoying that the couple had to sneak around again and that everyone had to watch what they said to make sure they didn’t spill the beans, Elodie tried to be as understanding as she possibly could. Hakoda had not seen his children in two years, so she was sure he didn’t want to ruin the happy mood by revealing that he was dating a woman who was quite a bit younger than him (and not from their world). She didn’t want to be the typical young woman dating an older man with children like in movies. The ones that get mad when he was to put his kids first or that she wants his kids to call her mom. So, she just let Hakoda have some space with his son.

Elodie had a couple more conversations with Sokka during his time there. He seemed to be a really nice and easy-going kid, which made her feel a little bit better about her and Hakoda’s predicament. Their first conversation was about Elodie's new abilities. He was excited when he found out she was a waterbender and he enthusiastically explained that his sister was a master at the skill and wouldn’t mind teaching Elodie how to actually use her bending, since Elodie hadn’t figured any of that out. Their second conversation was rather amusing for Elodie but very embarrassing for Sokka. The teen had come to Elodie for some advice about girls. Elodie answered his questions while only teasing him a little bit. Sokka seemed to like her as a person, so she hoped he felt the same when Hakoda finally broke the news to his son.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elodie was currently trying to find more firewood in the foresty area behind the bay. It was higher up than the bay, but there was a path that went up the cliffside that made getting there relatively easy. Konoye had accompanied her to get out of doing some chores, but Elodie put him to work by carrying some of the wood she found.

The two were headed back to camp, their arms full of lumber, when Konoye asked her, “So, are you hurt by Hakoda not telling Sokka?” She instantly knew what he was talking about, and she shook her head, “Nope.” Konoye gave her a look, “Really? Your significant other hasn’t told his son about you even though Sokka’s been here for a couple of days, and that doesn’t make you feel anything.” Elodie sighed, “Sheesh. What do you want from me?” Konoye just kept on giving her that look and she rolled her eyes, “Fine. It doesn’t feel great that Hakoda hasn’t told Sokka about us, but I can understand his hesitation.” Konoye shrugged, “Well I think that it’s better to come right out and say it. He would probably be more upset that his dad hid it from him.” Elodie deadpanned, “I don’t remember asking for your advice, genius.” Konoye shoved her with his elbow, “Well you got it.”

The two didn’t talk about her and Hakoda’s current situation the rest of the way back much to Elodie’s relief. When they reached the camp, there was no one lounging around like there normally was. Instead, everyone was rushing around and Elodie sighed, she knew what this meant. They spotted a Fire Nation ship. Elodie took Konoye’s firewood from his arms, so he could go get ready for battle. She hated it when the men had to go fight. There had been no deaths yet, but she didn’t know if she could see anymore of her comrades terribly burnt. It had only happened a couple of times, but seeing it just once was one too many times.

As Elodie went to put her load down, she saw Hakoda and Sokka gearing up for the fight and her stomach dropped. Would she even be able to kiss Hakoda goodbye like she normally did? They wouldn’t have time to sneak off somewhere so Sokka wouldn’t see them. The thought made her feel even more queasy than she normally did when the crew went to go fight. She was very aware that there was a chance she wouldn’t see some of the men again after they went to go face the enemy’s ships, and the thought made her extremely anxious.

Elodie tried to push the negative thoughts out of her head as she sat the firewood down and hurried to Zokkik’s tent. She immediately started helping the healers prepare for the worse. They hoped that no one would be seriously injured, but if someone was, they needed to be ready. A couple of moments of preparation could be the difference between someone living and dying.

Tiluq, who was one of the other healers, said as they finished getting ready, “We should test to see if you have the ability to heal.” Elodie looked confused as Zokkik nodded, “I didn’t think of that. It would be really helpful if she could.” Zokkik saw Elodie’s confusion and explained, “Some waterbenders have healing abilities, but it’s pretty rare. There’s a small possibility that you have that ability.” Elodie asked, “How do we find out?” The healers seemed stumped at her question, so they decided to figure that out later.

Once the men were almost ready to go, Elodie was given the task of putting some first aid things on the ships (like bandages, burn creams, etc.) that the men could use in an emergency. The men started to load the boat that she was currently on, so she encouraged them to kick some butts. They all seemed to appreciate her comment, but also seemed occupied talking about a… flying bison? Whatever that was.

She was headed back to her post when she suddenly felt familiar arms around her waist. She turned in said arms and saw her lover’s face looking down at her. She relaxed in tan arms before suddenly coming to her senses, “I’m guessing you told Sokka about us. How did he react?” Hakoda chuckled sheepishly, “Actually I didn’t tell him… he just left, so we don’t have to hide our affection now.”

Elodie wanted to say, “You had all this time and you still didn’t tell him before he left.” But she didn’t. She tried her disappointment and tried really hard to understanding as he simply nodded, “Oh. ok.” Hakoda had been around the female enough to know that she was not happy. He sighed softly, “I’m sorry, Elodie. I promise I will tell him the next time I see him.” He leaned down to give her a kiss, which she returned. After the short kiss, Elodie smiled softly at him, “It’s ok. I know it must be difficult for you. We’ll talk about this later since you have a ship to catch.” Hakoda looked over, and sure enough, the ships were waiting for him. Elodie kissed him one last time, “Don’t die please.” He chuckled and said before rushing off, “I wasn’t planning on it, dear.” She rolled her eyes playfully at the nickname, then headed to the healer’s tent.

_______________________________________________________________

Once they were all finished with their duties, the men tiredly went to their tents, eager to get some sleep. Elodie, however, was waiting for a certain warrior. He and some of the other men that were in charge were discussing some things in his tent, so Elodie was sitting by the firepits waiting for them to be done so she could finally cuddle with her man.

She had been staring off into space when Hakoda’s figure stepped in front of her. She looked at him with a small smile as he kneeled in front of her, “Do you forgive me?” Elodie pushed her hair out her face, the cool wind blowing it around, “There’s nothing for me to forgive.” He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she dodged it while trying to hide a mischievous grin, “You stink.” “Oh really?” He raised an eyebrow and Elodie watched him as he crouched down as if he was going to-

Elodie let out a yelp as he pounced on her (gently) making her fall backward off the log she was sitting on. He then proceeded to pepper kisses over her face as she protested, “Hakoda! You really are so sweaty. And, you’re getting it on me!” He grinned, “Guess we’ll have to get clean then.” She laughed at his suggestive words, “You’re in an awfully good mood.”

The two played around for a while, before settling down. They just laid in each other’s arms contently for a long while. As Elodie started to doze off in Hakoda’s embrace a low growl/bellow awoke her. She opened her eyes to see a large six-legged buffalo land on the sand. She rubbed her eyes, “What the-“

Hakoda was up and rushing over to the bison in an instant, Elodie following after him. She was even more shocked to see several children getting off of it. A young black-haired girl, Sokka, and a crying girl that looked similar to Sokka holding a sack in her arms. ‘Wait,’ Elodie thought, ‘That’s not a sack. That’s a kid!’

She had a feeling things were fixing to get complicated.


	17. Wishful Thinking

The night was a whirlwind. In a split second, Elodie was running to the healers’ tent and Hakoda was running to the children. Zokkik almost had a heart attack as Elodie shook him awake, “Elodie- What is it, child?” She quickly explained the situation and he was instantly up and alert, telling her to prepare a cot as he went outside to help. She quickly fixed a spot for the injured boy and she wasn’t a second late. Hakoda entered the tent, carrying the boy with… strange tattoos? He had a group of kids behind him.

Elodie called, “Hakoda. Lay him over here.” She then faced Zokkik as Hakoda gently laid the kid down, “What do you need me to do?” He laid a hand on her shoulder, “Just watch. Katara has the ability to heal. I want you to see how she does it.” Elodie nodded gently as she saw the crying girl bend some clean water and pressing it on the child’s back. Her eyes widened as the water started to glow and she wondered if she would actually be able to do that.

Everyone was completely silent as Katara worked her magic. Elodie didn’t know how long they stood there before Katara stopped and sighed, “That’s all I can do for now. He’s stable now.” Hakoda nodded and said softly, “Let’s get y’all somewhere to rest.” They all seemed ok with that idea, except for Katara. She sniffled, but said sternly, “I’m not leaving him.” Hakoda frowned softly, “I can tell you’re exhausted Katara. You need to sleep.” She didn’t seem like she was going to change her mind, so Elodie stepped in, “I’ll watch over him. I promise that I’ll get you right away if anything happens.” Katara seemed very skeptical, especially because Elodie was a stranger, but Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, “Elodie will watch over him, Katara. We all need rest.” She, reluctantly, listened to her brother before Hakoda herded the group out of the healers’ tent.

Zokkik yawned, “I’ll stay up with you.” Elodie chuckled at him, “Go sleep. I’ll be fine here.” She could really tell that he was exhausted because he just patted her head with a nod before going to his cot. She shook her head softly before looking back at the boy. She put the context clues together and mumbled, “You must be Avatar Aang. I heard you’re the one who could get me home.”

Elodie spent the whole night watching Aang and making sure nothing happened to him. She was tempted to mess with her bending, but she was afraid that she would be so engrossed in it that she would miss something important with Aang.

When morning came around, Zokkik came to check Aang’s vitals, “You should have woken me up to take a turn watching him Elodie.” She looked up at the healer and smiled, “It’s all good. I had a lot to think about anyways.” Zokkik didn’t pry as he finished checking on the boy, “He seems to still be in a stable state, which is good.” Elodie nodded in agreement.

The two started to make some medicines together, making sure Aang was still in their sight as they did so. A little later in the morning, Katara walked into the tent, mumbled a brief hello, and then went to go heal Aang some more. Elodie patted Zokkik’s shoulder and whispered, “I’ll let you talk to her.” She grabbed some of Zokkik’s bathing supplies (since hers were in Hakoda’s tent and that’s where the children were staying) and headed outside of the tent, stretching with a tired yawn, before heading to the river in the forest to bathe and wash her hair, hoping it would help wake her up.

She climbed the rocky path and smiled when she saw the familiar river that was her sanctuary. She could always just relax and soak there. Elodie took off her clothing, folding them, and putting them where they couldn’t get wet. She stepped into the cool water, shivering slightly, before making her way deeper and deeper until the water was up to her chest. She soaked for a long while and was about to start washing her hair when she heard the bushes rustle. She looked up and wished she had brought some type of weapon to defend herself, “Who’s there?” She instantly relaxed when her boyfriend came into her sight.

Hakoda grinned and held up a familiar bag, “Zokkik told me where you were headed, so I figured you would like your bath stuff.” Elodie smiled at him, “Thanks. You can just set them down over there.” He did and made no efforts to leave, so Elodie asked him, “You need anything else?” He hummed and teased, “I’m considering blowing our cover by joining you.” Elodie scoffed, “If you do, I’m letting all the damage from doing so land on you.” He laughed softly, “Then I guess I probably shouldn’t. Well, I guess I’ll let you bathe in peace.”

Hakoda turned around and started to walk away when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned back round to see Elodie wrap herself in a towel before walking over to him and locking her lips on his. When she pulled away, she smiled a bit sadly, “I don’t know when I’ll get to do that again, so…” He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her rather passionately before resting his forehead against hers, “It won’t be long. I promise.” Elodie nodded softly and Hakoda gave her one last tender kiss before smiling childishly, “Hey Elodie.” She hummed softly and he continued, “I really like you.” She laughed, “I really like you too. Now go before it’s obvious where you are.” He nodded and left, not after giving her one last smooch.

Elodie watched him leave before returning to her bath. Hakoda was fully ready to admit that he loved Elodie, but the female was a little more hesitant. She didn’t want to just toss the term around, and Hakoda respected that. He used to be like that when he was younger, but he knew what love felt like and therefore he knew that he loved Elodie. She would just have to figure it out like he did when he was that age. The two hadn’t even been that intimate yet either, but it was the other way around. Elodie wouldn’t have an issue doing some intimate thing, but Hakoda wanted to make sure that she was certain about their relationship before doing anything steamy. And besides, they lived in tents. The walls were literally paper-thin and if the light was cast just right, you would see shadows, and- well you get the point. There would be absolutely no privacy.

Elodie was soon done cleaning up, so she dried off, put on her clothes, and headed back to camp. Once she returned, breakfast was just finishing up and only some people were still eating. Those people included her two friends and the conscious kids that arrived last night, except Katara. Their backs were towards her, so she seriously thought about messing with Konoye, but her tiredness overcame that feeling. She took her normal place, which was her sandwiched in between the two males. Petak handed her a plate, “Saved this for you.” Elodie thanked him before shivering and pulling her legs up to her chest, “It’s freaking cold. How are y’all wearing short sleeves.” Konoye chuckled and nudged her, “You’re always cold. And, we’re from the Southern Water Tribe. It’s always freezing there.” Elodie scrunched up her nose, she did not like being cold.

Elodie started eating and was conversing a bit with Sokka and the girl beside him, she learned her name was Toph. They were talking for a while before Hakoda and Katara joined them, the girl definitely looking reluctantly to leave the injured avatar. Elodie smiled at her gently and Katara returned it. Hakoda cleared his throat as he sat down beside his children, “Katara, we recently found out that Elodie’s a waterbender.” Katara perked up and turned her attention to the blonde, “Really?” Elodie nodded, “Yeah. Though I don’t know how to do, well, anything. I found out accidentally.” Katara was quick to say, “I can help teach you!” Elodie smiled at her, “I would really appreciate that.”

Katara nodded, looking livelier than she had been, “I need to have a healing session with Aang after breakfast, and then we can start!” Elodie nodded as the two started talking to each other, Katara moving so she could sit beside Elodie (Konoye and Petal had left to do their chores). Some of Hakoda’s worries about his children not liking Elodie faded away as Sokka jumped in the female’s conversation, a content smile on his face.

Then again, they didn’t know that Hakoda was in love with her yet. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's finals week. please pray for me.
> 
> We hit 600 readers on here!!!!!! Thank you so much! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (also i kind of want to write a Mandalorian fic because I've been obsessed with the show recently, so tell me if you would maybe read it or try to stop me plz)


	18. Christmas Special

Even though Christmas wasn’t a thing in the world Elodie was in, she absolutely loved the holiday and wanted to continue having it. So, for the past couple of years now, the Gaang and their friends came over to eat, hang out, and open a couple of gifts. It was hard to get everyone together throughout the year since they were all old enough to have their own lives and live in different places, so Elodie always looked forward to the couple of days that they were all together.

It was three years since the end of the 100-year-war, two and a half years since Elodie and Hakoda had gotten married, and six months since they found out they were expecting a baby. To say everyone was ecstatic about the baby was an understatement, which helped Elodie relax about the pregnancy. She wasn’t sure how people would react since Hakoda was older and already had children that were almost adults. She had been most nervous about Katara and Sokka’s reactions, but the two had acted very excited about the baby, especially Katara. Elodie had a feeling that Katara would be visiting a lot more once he or she was here.

Elodie was currently finishing up some last-minute dishes before their guests arrived. She groaned and leaned against the counter she was fixing the food on as her husband walked into the room, presents piled in his arm. He looked over at her and asked in a concerned voice, “You ok? Are your feet and ankles hurting again or did Turtleduck kick too hard again?” She held up a finger, “The first one.” Hakoda set the gifts down and made his way to her, taking her hands into his, “Why don’t to rest for a bit? I can finish this.” Elodie giggled, “Do you know how to make what I am cooking?” He peeked over her shoulder to see what she was making, “Well, no. But, I can try.” She smiled, “It’s ok. I'm almost done.” He nodded before kissing her forehead, “Ok, but sit as soon as your done.” She chuckled, “Ok, ok.”

It wasn’t long before people started arriving. First, it was Bato and Zokkik, then Konoye and Petak, then the Gaang. Elodie was sitting and talking Zokkik, letting her swollen feet and ankles rest, when the Gaang showed up. She felt all warm inside as Sokka and Katara rushed to hug their father before hurrying over to her. She stood up and hugged the siblings, her fairly big baby bump getting in the way. She laughed softly as Sokka pulled away, “Wow! You’re really big now!” Suki walked up behind him and smacked him in the head, “Sokka!” He paled, “I mean, like, your stomach is big because you’re pregnant.” Elodie tried to suppress her laughs, “I knew what you meant, Sokka.”

Katara gently placed a hand on Elodie’s stomach, “The baby seems strong and healthy. How have you been feeling?” Elodie smiled, “I’ve been pretty good. I’m ready for Turtleduck to be here though.” Hakoda came from behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, “Don’t let her fool you. The pregnancy’s been harder on her than she tells, which is why she needs to be sitting down right now.” Elodie rolled her eyes playfully at him, “I’m ok, Hakoda.” However, to ease her husband’s nerves, she sat back down.

The night was full of laughter, storytelling, and just the joy of being together. Elodie got a couple of presents, most of them being homemade, which made them even more special to her. The baby even got some gifts. A blanket from Sokka and Suki, a Momo-looking stuffed animal from Aang and Katara, and a small painting of a turtleduck from Zuko and Toph (they were the ones that came up with the nickname ‘Turtleduck’ for the baby).

It was getting pretty late into the night, and Elodie was starting to feel it. Hakoda leaned over and whispered, “Do you want to go to bed? I can kick everybody out.” She laughed softly and shook her head, “I’m good.” He was very protective of her on the regular and that protectiveness sky-rocketed ever since Hakoda knew she was pregnant.

A little bit later, Konoye, Petak, Zokkik, and Bato left after saying goodbye to everyone. The Gaang was going to be spending the night with them, so she pulled out extra blankets and pillows for them. Once those were all out, she sat back down and the girls followed her. They were all just chatting about nonsense stuff when Suki asked, “What’s it like being pregnant?” Toph, being the crude jokester she was, grinned, “I think she meant, what’s it like getting pregnant?” Suki and Katara choked and Suki blushed, though she tried to hide it, as Toph laughed loudly at them and continued, “She’s dating a Watertribe boy, and you’re married to and expecting a Watertibe man’s baby, so you’re the perfect person to-“ Suki leaped up from her spot and slapped a hand over Toph’s mouth as Katara gawked, “What is wrong with you?! That’s my father and brother you’re- insinuating about!” Elodie couldn’t control her laughter from Toph’s antics and Katara and Suki playfully glared at her.

The boys walked into the house and Sokka questioned, “What are y’all laughing about?” Elodie wiped away a tear and shook her head, “Girl stuff. You wouldn’t understand.” Sokka made a face, “I don’t even want to know.” The girls all let out laughs at Sokka’s face.

Elodie let out a yawn and it was followed by everyone else doing the same. Hakoda chuckled, “It seems like it’s time for sleep. It’s been a long day.” Everyone agreed and started getting ready for bed. Once the Gaang was settled and halfway asleep, Elodie and Hakoda went into their bedroom. As Elodie slipped on her pajamas, Hakoda sat on the side of their bed and said quietly, “I think Aang wants to marry Katara.” Elodie froze for a second, “Did he tell you that?” Hakoda shook his head no, “He didn’t tell me outright, but the eluded to it.” She hummed as she climbed into bed, “Will you give them your blessing if he does?” Hakoda laid beside her and pulled her into his arms, “I think so… Though the thought of my little girl getting married makes my heartache.” Elodie chuckled and kissed him softly, “My poor baby.” Hakoda grinned, “You little-“ He hovered over her and ran a hand through her hair, “I love you.” He moved down to kiss her baby bump, “And, I love you.” She smiled at him, “We love you too.”

Elodie yawned and Hakoda went to the previous position of hugging her, “Go to sleep, Elodie.” He rubbed her stomach gently and Elodie found her eyes getting very heavy. She hummed, “I think this was one of the best Christmases we’ve had yet.” Hakoda nodded before smiling and looking at her bump, “Yeah, but I think next year’s will be even better.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry (late) Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Merry Tuesday!
> 
> Also, sorry for this being late. Finals kept me busy and I have had two knee surgeries in the past two weeks (I actually had my left knee surgery this morning XD), so I haven't exactly been in the mood to write. My pain meds for the surgery make me drowsy, so if there's any mistakes, that's why haha
> 
> Chapter 18 will be out soon, so keep an eye out for it! Something big's about to happen, any guesses?
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	19. Secrets

Katara wasn’t kidding when she told Elodie that she would teach her waterbending. The two were outside and in the water for hours upon hours, barely stopping to eat lunch. It provided Katara a good distraction from the injured avatar, and Elodie was determined to pick up the basics of the skill as fast as she could. And, she was. By dinner time, Elodie had gotten most of the basics down, and Katara (as well as everyone else watching) was seriously impressed by how fast Elodie was learning.

Elodie was a perfectionist, which is why she trained herself to pick up new skills quickly. Even when she was a little girl, she had to have the highest grades and be the best in her dance classes and on her summer softball team. She had forgotten what it felt like to be so passionate about something during her time in the new world, and learning the art of waterbending made her remember that drive and passion. It was helping her get out of a rut she didn’t even know she was in.

Elodie and Katara would have continued to practice well into the night if Hakoda hadn’t practically forced them to stop, so they could eat dinner. Elodie noticed that this seemed to bother Katara a lot. However, she didn’t think about it too much because her stomach was desperately calling out for food. Katara had stormed off to where her brother and Toph were eating, and Elodie saw the slightly sad look on Hakoda’s face. She went to comfort him by holding his hand before she stopped herself. Definitely couldn’t do that with the children around. She just patted him on the shoulder gently before going to get some food.

Elodie was definitely not happy that their relationship had to be hidden again, but she still didn’t say anything to Hakoda. She got her plate and instead of where she normally sat at dinner, which was next to Hakoda, she sat in her breakfast spot. Konoye and Petak gave her a sympathetic look. This was going to be fun.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Three days had gone by since the Gaang (as Sokka called them) showed up. For Elodie, those days had been filled with practicing with Katara and on her own. It helped her keep her mind off of her current relationship issues. She seemed to be having a lot of them recently… It seemed to be helping Katara too. The poor girl had been struggling with her own situation. She spent hours upon hours healing Aang, and Elodie could see that it was starting to take a toll on her mental being. Elodie wished she could help the younger girl somehow, but she wasn’t sure what she could do.

After some consideration, Elodie thought just some simple relaxation to help Katara. Elodie had recently found a hot spring not too far away from the base and she knew that a hot bath always made her feel better when she was stressed, so she told Katara about it. That’s how Elodie, Katara, and Toph ended up soaking in a wonderful hot spring.

Elodie sighed happily as she sunk down in the warm water, only her head poking out of it, “This is it. I’m never leaving this place.” The other two girls just hummed in agreement, them thinking the same thing. Katara asked, “How did you find this place?” Elodie looked over at her, “I was looking for firewood and happened to stumble across it. I think it was a great discovery.” They were quiet for a while before Katara whispered, “Thank you, Elodie. I really needed this.” Elodie smiled, “I thought you needed a break. If you ever feel like y’all need to talk to somebody, just know that I’m always here and that I’m a good listener.” The two younger girls nodded and were silent for a couple of moments before they took turns spilling their worries out to Elodie. Elodie listened and tried to give the best advice she could. She remembered being their age and wishing that she was able to talk to somebody about her problems, so she was happy that she could provide that to them.

The three were in the springs until they were pruney and slightly red from the heat. They reluctantly got out once their stomachs started growling for dinner. Elodie climbed out of the water and dried off before slipping her clothes back on. She then dried her hair the best that she could before combing it out. She saw that Toph was having a little trouble with her hair, and Elodie was fixing to offer to help her with it, but Katara seemed to see what Elodie was going to do and she shook her head discretely. Elodie scrunched up her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. As soon as they were dressed, they headed back down to the camp and Elodie hummed, “Dinner should be ready by the time we get back.”

Elodie was correct. Dinner was ready, and she was eager to eat. As she slurped up her soup and everyone was seated Hakoda cleared his throat, “We have come up with a plan to leave Chameleon Bay and invade the Fire Nation.” Everyone was clearly paying attention now. The plan shortened was they capture the next Fire Nation ship that passed by, and some people would go on it and others would go help get reinforcements for the attack on the enemy. They had no reason to stay at Chameleon Bay anymore because the Earth Kingdom had fallen.

Elodie had a feeling things were about to heat up.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were lucky, a Fire Nation ship happened to show up that night. Elodie felt extra anxious when the troops left to go capture it because she wasn’t able to say goodbye to Hakoda. So, she tried to busy herself by helping Zokkik and some other pack up camp. They would be leaving as soon as possible, so they wouldn’t possibly be seen by the Fire Nation. It was going to be a sleepless night.

It was an hour and a half later when the warriors came back to shore, a metal ship following them. When all of the boats were docked, Elodie started counting the men that were coming off of them. There seemed to be very few injuries, which made her instantly relax. She felt even more relieved when she saw Hakoda and his two kids walk off the metal ship.

However, her happy mood instantly dropped when she saw the very unhappy look on Katara and Sokka’s faces and Hakoda looking worried behind them, trying to keep up with them. Katara stopped in front of Elodie, “You’re dating my dad and didn’t tell me?! I-I- I hate you!” Elodie’s eyes widened and she froze as Katara stomped to the healers’ tent, Sokka not far behind her. Elodie's breath became a bit shallow as her eyes snapped to Hakoda, “You told them without telling me you told them?” His shoulders slumped, “It slipped out. I didn’t mean to.” Elodie’s frustration instantly died when she saw the emotion on Hakoda’s face. He looked on the verge of tears as he watched his angry children make their way into the tent, no doubt going to the avatar.

Wordlessly, Elodie pulled Hakoda into her arms. He returning it, digging his head into her shoulder. And, Elodie felt like shit, because she was causing his problem.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop- the cat's out of the bag


	20. Battle Ships

Hakoda allowed Elodie to hold him in her arms for only a couple more moments before he had to go into ‘Chief Mode’ since they were trying to get out of Chameleon Bay as quickly as possible. Once they broke from the hug, he placed his hands on her shoulders, “Please go pack up our stuff, and don’t worry about my children. That’s not something you should stress about.” Elodie frowned, “Hakoda, I can’t just-.” He cut her off with a quick peck, “Please Elodie.” She nodded gently, “Ok…” He gave her one last peck on the lips before rushing off to instruct everyone what to do.

Elodie watched him go with a sigh before heading to their tent. She was relieved to see that none of the children were in there. That would have made things super awkward. She quickly started to pack up her and Hakoda’s things while simultaneously trying to keep her mind off of what just happened. Alas, she couldn’t. All she could think about was that she was ruining a father’s relationship with his children. She ran her hands through her hair and sat back onto her knees as she tried to smother her thoughts, her eyes squeezed shut.

Elodie’s eyes snapped opened when she heard someone walk into the tent. She had a brief panic attack, thinking it was Katara or Sokka, but was instantly relieved when she saw it was Toph. The young girl cleared her throat, “Uh, I’m here to get our stuff.” Elodie nodded and stood up, “I packed it for y’all. Do you need help carrying it all?” Toph took their belongings from Elodie and thanked her before walking towards the tent’s flap. She paused, “Just give them some time. They’ll come around.” Toph exited and Elodie went back to packing up their stuff.

After a while, Elodie was finished packing and was starting to take the tent down when Petak came next to her, “You need any help?” Elodie, for once, accepted the help, “Yes please.” Petak nodded and started to take the large tent down with Elodie. He asked her quietly, “Are you ok?” Elodie forced a smile on her face, “I’m fine.” He stared at her, “The truth please.” Elodie bit her lip, “How can I be ok right now, Petak? And, I feel selfish for feeling like this, because I’m the least affected one out of this whole situation.” Petak paused and laid a hand on her shoulder, “You shouldn’t feel selfish. Your feelings are validated. And, I’m sure things will get better soon.” Elodie smiled at him weakly, “Thanks.” He just nodded and continued to help her.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was in the wee hours of the morning by the time everything and everybody was packed and loaded into the ships. Everyone looked absolutely exhausted, and for good reason. They had just had a battle and weren’t able to rest after it, and, unfortunately, probably wouldn’t get to for a while. Because of that, Elodie tried to do as much as the work needed to be done as she possibly could. She felt like the people who fought needed to rest before she did.

Ever so slowly, the men were able to go to their new bunks and finally rest by the time night was about to fall. Elodie was milling around the ship, still helping with stuff and feeling like death itself when Zokkik encouraged —more like forced— her to go sleep. She protested, but Zokkik didn’t listen to her as he pushed her off to the room she and Hakoda were supposed to be sharing. Keywords there are “supposed to be”. She had no clue if Hakoda wanted to share a room with her now that his children knew about their relationship, and weren’t happy about it.

Nonetheless, Elodie wanted to make Hakoda’s night easier for him, so she tried to make the room cozier and less Fire Nation-y for him. She stuffed the Fire Nation decorations under the short bed and laid out a fur on top of said bed. She didn’t lay out too much of their stuff though in case they needed a quick escape.

Even though her body was exhausted, her mind was still running a thousand miles per hour. There was no way she could possibly sleep like this, so she tried to distract her mind by reading a book Petak had bought her before they left. She had only gotten through a couple of pages of the book when the door opened and Hakoda trudged in. He glanced over at Elodie as he haphazardly kicked off his boots and pulled his shirt over his head. Elodie joked weakly, “For an old man, you’re pretty muscular.” He chuckled at her attempt to lighten both of their moods.

Hakoda fell back onto the bed and looked at Elodie, “Care to join me? You should already be sleeping you know.” She rolled her eyes, “Hakoda, what have I said about parenting me. Zokkik already does that enough.” Instead of laughing at the running joke of Hakoda subconsciously parenting her (that was honestly just his personality), Hakoda just reached out for Elodie. She kicked off her pants, preferring to sleep without them, before climbing into bed with her beloved.

Hakoda’s arm instinctively wrapped around Elodie’s waist as she curled up to his side, her head resting on his chest. They were quiet for a while before Hakoda shifted to face Elodie, “I thought I told you not to worry about the situation with my children.” Elodie sighed slightly, he knew her way too well, but she denied it. She dug her head into his neck, “I’m not.” He chuckled tiredly and ran a hand down her back, “Is that why you weren’t planning on sleeping in the same room as me?” Elodie tensed slightly before meeting his eyes, “I just wasn’t sure if you would want to. And, how did you know?” Hakoda’s hand moved up to twirl some of Elodie’s hair, “Your blanket isn’t on the bed.” Elodie had a blanket that she had used from the time she had been pulled onto the ship that she always slept with, mainly because it was the softest blanket they had, and so it missing on the bed was unusual.

Elodie sighed and placed her head on Hakoda’s taut chest, “Busted.” He gently lifted her chin and looked in her eyes, and was about to ask her why she would think that; then he remembered that had happened several times. He kissed the tip of her nose, “I am sorry, Elodie.” She opened her mouth to tell him not to work about it, but he cut her off with a kiss that was rougher than his normally were, “I am so sorry that I treated you as if you were not important.” She could hear the pain in his voice and her heart constricted, “Hakoda…” She leaned towards him and placed her lips on Hakoda’s lips, silently telling him that she was not in any way mad at him. She could tell that he was really going through some things by how he responded. Normally he was slow to rile up, and would spend a while just gently kissing and say sweet nothings; but tonight, he was quick to progress their affection. His arm around her waist constricted as he pulled her close to him, pressing his lips to hers intensely.

Elodie didn’t hesitate to respond to him. She kissed back with just as much ferocity but was taken aback when he quickly maneuvered them, so Hakoda was hovering over her. They just looked at each other for a while, and Elodie had never seen this expression on Hakoda before. He was normally so laid back and had some relaxed look on his face whenever they were by themselves. But now he was looking down at her with a serious, yet slightly nervous, expression. Elodie smiled at him softly and brushed the hair that had fallen in his face back, so she could really look at him.

Hakoda seemed to want to say something, but couldn’t get the words out. It didn’t help that Elodie had sat up some and started leaving little kisses on his chin, neck, and chest. His mood lightened a bit as the kisses got a bit ticklish. He chuckled as he gently pushed Elodie back down on the bed, “I need to tell you something.” She questioned, “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” He shook his head, “No, I am not breaking up with you. Now be serious.” Elodie nodded and put on a comically straight face before Hakoda laughed at her, “What type of serious face is that?” While keeping said face, Elodie explained, “It’s you when you’re in ‘Chief Mode’, sir.” Hakoda gawked, “That is not how I look! And, stop acting like you’re talking to a superior.” Elodie broke with a giggle as she nodded, “That’s totally what you look like.”

After their laughs subsided, Hakoda looked down at Elodie before giving her a sweet kiss, “Elodie, I just want you to know how much you mean to me. I know I’ve been kind of horrible at showing it recently, but I’m not going to continue being like that. Elodie, I just-,” he paused and took a deep breath, “Elodie, I love you. I love you so much!” He looked at her nervously for a reaction. Elodie sat there for a couple of seconds. That was the first time he said that he loved her. Did she truly feel the same; she didn’t just want to be tossing that term around.

Hakoda, getting anxious, rambled, “I mean, it’s ok if you don’t want to say it back because I know you-.” He was cut off by Elodie kissing him passionately before looking up at him with a smile, “I love you too, Hakoda.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh hi. long time no see... I really thought I was going to write a lot over break, but then I didn't. sorry! i hope the ending made up for my absence! they FINALLY said they love each other!
> 
> and ahhhhh this is the 20 chapter!!! I've never had a story last this long so woohoo!!!
> 
> see you next chapter, it shouldn't take me as long to write and post it! plz like, comment, and share or whatever :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading! Please kindly inform me if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes because I'm bad at editing. If you would want anything specific in the story, don't hesitate to tell me because I have some trouble coming up with ideas after the first couple chapters. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!


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